


The White Knight of Omega

by tsheps



Series: The White Knight of Omega [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Female Anti-Hero, Kidnapping, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-13 18:57:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3392585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsheps/pseuds/tsheps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows Aria T'loak, Pirate Queen of Omega.  Except no one really knows her at all.</p>
<p>When she and Councilor Tevos are kidnapped, Aria's true nature is revealed and Tevos's  world is rocked forever.  </p>
<p>Set during the closing stages of ME3 with flashbacks to canon and before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> On my latest play through I was inspired by the Omega DLC. I saw it from a totally different angle, and decided I wanted to play with the ideas that were insinuated. Mainly Aria as a character with depth and some hints of being a 'good guy'. 
> 
> Being 99.9% Pure Paragon myself (of course I have to shoot that douchebag Udina every time), I liked toying with the idea of Aria as an anti-hero. I also love the pairing of Tevos/Aria, and it seemed to fit so perfectly with the story line I was going for. Tortured soul with an unattainable love, what's not to dig about that?
> 
> Hope you like it!
> 
> Fair warning- I am borrowing a little from the books, but not necessarily staying true to them. I don't really consider them canon since even Bioware admits the facts are a bit off in some places.

Aria T'loak was a predator, and like any hunter, she awoke instantly and fully aware.  She eyes immediately came into focus and she registered that she was in a strange place.  Aria never awoke in a strange place.  Uncertainty was danger and she was careful to avoid danger.  She needed to move, to back into a corner and gain a defensible position.  When she tried to move, however, metal grated on metal and she could not stand.  She was seated in a metal chair.  Her hands and feet were bound to it.

She tried to survey the room, but found her head pounded when she tried to move it.  There was a chair across from her, and it was occupied.  Councilor Gabrielle Tevos perched on the edge of a padded leather chair with as much dignity as she could muster considering her tight dress was covered with streaks of dirt and ripped at one shoulder.  Fear rippled across the bold white markings on her face.

"Aria!" She whimpered in fear just as a blur of blue streaked across Aria's peripheral vision and her jaw exploded with pain.  She had already fallen back into unconsciousness before her chin landed heavily on her chest.

 

******

 

_Aria's omnitool dinged on her wrist as she lazily scanned the drunken masses of Purgatory.  Her movements at least were lazy, but she was wary, coiled tight like a spring ready to strike at any threat from any angle.  Those who knew her well knew that, the calmer Aria looked, the more dangerous she was.  The glassy surface hiding a raging tempest beneath.  These days however, in this depressingly restrained club, there were very few people who knew her well.  Her most trusted aides had been left behind to maintain a defense on the newly reconquered Omega.  Some of her best fighters had died there.  She didn't trouble to mourn any of them, either the living or the dead._

_She allowed the alert to flash a few more times.  No need to give her caller the mistaken impression that she gave a single fuck what they had to say to her.  She answered just before any self-respecting person would hang up.  She made the call audio only.  Few received the privilege of seeing her face._

_"What do you want?"_

_"Aria.  It's Feron.  We have a mutual..."_

_"I know who you are, Feron.  I asked you once what you want.  I seldom ask anything twice."_

_"Uh... right.  I..."_

_"Spit it out or I'll hang up on you.  You have begun to bore me."_

_"I have information for you.  From the usual source.  She was hoping you would be in a position to act upon it."_

_There was a long pause.  Aria rolled her eyes and said, without attempting to hide her impatience, "Are you expecting me to guess?"_

_"Uh... no.  I... Our friend has discovered a plot to assassinate Councilor Tevos."_

_Aria sat up, interested at last._

_"Someone has convinced one of the Councilor's most trusted bodyguards to assassinate her.  Perhaps Cerberus, it's unclear who is behind the attempt.  The plan appears to be to find a cause to dismiss the rest of her protective unit and accompany her alone to her private apartments.  Once inside, Tevos will be incapacitated with a drug of some kind and then staged in a bedroom.  Probably trying to make it look like a,,, liaison gone wrong."_

_"Tevos does not have liaisons."_

_"Really?  Well, if that's the case it is not widely known.  The result would be the same, whatever people think afterwards."_

_"Don't question my sources, drell."  Anger flared in her, but she pushed it down as she had learned to do over many long years.  "It certainly sounds like Cerberus.  When is this attempt taking place?"_

_"Today.  Right now, in fact.  We just got the..."_

_The line went dead before he finished speaking.  Aria stood calmly and dismissed her guard with a biting remark about being able to find the toilet on her own.  She forced herself to take measured steps.  She paused by the door to stroke the cheek of a fresh faced human female marine.  The marine blushed, Aria winked and strode away.  When the marine followed into the bathroom a few minutes later, expecting the time of her life, Aria had vanished._

_She sprinted through the huge air ducts towards the Presidium.  The amount of recycled air that had to move through the massive structure of the Citadel required a ventilation system that would have been comfortable for a krogan to move through.  Aria's footfalls were light on the reinforced metal, but her heart was in her throat.  If she was too late because she harassed the Shadow Broker's agent....  She refused to think about the consequences._  

_It took her less time than she had expected to make it to the corridor that held the diplomatic offices of the asari delegation.  Most were still occupied.  The underlings would work late.  The Councilor would not.  Her office was dark and deserted.  Aria's curses echoed through the tubing as she changed direction in a flash and retraced her steps.  She made it her business to know the location of private apartments for most of the movers and shakers on the station.  Tevos lived near to the embassies, as most of them did._

_While certainly not spartan, Tevos's personal apartments were tasteful and lacked the opulence of most public servants who possessed more power than class.  At least they had the last time that Aria had been able to get an agent inside to look around.  She had never been inside herself.  She turned a sharp corner in the ducts and heard muffled shouting.  An argument in the halls below.  Then there were several cracks from a heavy pistol.  An M-6 Carnifex if Aria knew her pistols, and she did.  So everything had not gone to plan after all.  Aria quickened her pace._

_She whipped out her own M-77 Paladin and set her sights on an open vent a few yards ahead.  She planned the leap perfectly and burst through the weak spot, contracting her body in midair and rolling out of the fall.  She finished on one knee, her outstretched arm braced for the kickback when she fired.  She quickly assessed the scene.  The bodies of three dead asari littered the carpeted hallway in front of the elevator that led to an apartment block Aria knew well.  One was propped in a sitting position against the wall, her empty eyes staring right through Aria.  Tevos was on the floor as well, sitting awkwardly in her tight, floor length red dress.  Her hand was thrown up in front of her face, blocking her view of the pistol pointed at her left eye.  Above her stood an asari with violet skin and a sneer twisting her features.  She wore the uniform of the asari military police unit assigned to the protection of their Councilor.  Aria squeezed the trigger three times and the wall behind the ruined head was splattered with a macabre design.  Purple blood began to drip before the body fell._

_Aria was already on her feet, striding purposefully toward Councilor Tevos.  She had gasped when the shots came, no doubt assuming she was on her way to meet the Goddess.  Aria's lungs burned with the realization that she was seconds away from being too late.  She packed away that emotion with all of her others and put a rough hand in the Councilor's armpit, hauling her to her feet.  She weighed no more than a bird's wing and landed on her feet with an effortless grace.  Her eyes were full of shock.  The elevator dinged to a stop and the doors opened.  Aria shoved her inside and followed, slamming her palm into the button for Tevos's floor._

_To her credit, Tevos recovered from her near death experience quickly.  Suspicion was in her gaze as she asked Aria, "What the hell is going on here?"_

_Aria stared at the closed door, forcing her breaths to come slowly, languidly even, "Your guard was plotting to kill you.  I shot her.  You're welcome."_

_"I'm going to need a little more than that, Aria T'loak.  Stop this elevator immediately.  I am not going anywhere with a criminal."_

_The words were spoken with well-bred contempt.  Aria inwardly cringed at the tone.  It was not unlike the one she had used when she helped Aria with the customs woman.  She had helped because she was forced to, and she resented her involvement.  Her final 'My pleasure' dripping with sarcasm.  Aria was beneath her, and she would leave the asari in no doubt of that._

_A hissing sound came from below them before Aria could respond to the insult.  A pink haze filled the tiny space surprisingly quickly.  Aria recognized the smell- flowery and sickly sweet.  She had very little time before they would both be unconscious.  She ripped off her coat and shoved it over Tevos's mouth and nose._

_"Breathe through this.  When the doors open, run and don't stop until you are in your apartment. Call... call C..."_

_The world had slipped through her fingers before she could finish the warning.  Her last thought was a prayer that Tevos could last for another couple of floors.  They had been so close to safety._

 


	2. Chapter 2

It was the pain in Aria's jaw that woke her up.  She hadn't woken up to a swollen jaw in so long it made her feel like a sixty year-old maiden again.  It had been a common enough occurrence when she was a lowly merc, skipping all over the galaxy with no plan and no compass.  She went wherever a good fight or a good fuck led her, and she wasted every credit she earned on booze and flashy clothes.  She smiled at the memory of herself as a foolish little girl.

"Happy to see me again, Aria?"

She recognized the voice, but she couldn't quite place it without a face.  She snapped her eyes open.

 “Lidanya.  What brings a shriveled up old cunt like you to a place like this?"

Matriarch Lidanya's confident smile wavered ever so slightly.  Resentment curled its edges, but she managed to make it stick.  She leaned against the wall of the tiny room off to Aria's left, arms and ankles crossed.  It was a posture that Aria herself rarely adopted.  It was meant to convey flippancy.  Make the viewer think you were at ease.  It more often telegraphed insecurity.  Lidanya was so set on appearing relaxed that her body was rigid.  It was a mistake to try and fool Aria T'loak.  She could always tell and she would always use it against you.

Aria knew that she was projecting confidence despite being bound to a chair and waking up after being punched unconscious.  She could feel how others felt about her.  She looked over to where Tevos was still sitting across from her.  She was a little more frayed at the edges than when Aria had seen her before, the fear was taking its toll.  Tevos looked at Aria with that usual sense of mild distaste for who Aria was, but there was an undercurrent of something bordering on desperation.  She knew Aria was her only hope, and that sense was bolstered by Aria's confidence.   

The room they were in was very small.  A storage room from the looks of it.  There were boxes stacked against the walls, some creeping out towards the center of the space.  The walls and floor and ceiling were all tarnished metal.  Aria tapped her toe surreptitiously and did not hear an echo.  The floor was either very thick or it was padded.  If they had bothered to dampen the floors, they would have done the walls and ceiling too.  No noise coming from this room would be heard outside of it.  That was not good news.  Apart from the chairs she and Tevos sat in, there was no other furniture.  The space was strictly utilitarian.  No unique feature to give a clue as to their location.  They could be anywhere.   

Then there was her chair.  Plain brushed steel square tubing.  Her feet were bound just above the ankle with quarter inch thick metal chains.  They were wrapped around her leg several times, up to midcalf.  Her arms were pinned behind her.  Chains of the same type were wrapped around her waist and just above the elbows of her leather jacket.  Her wrists were bound in biotic dampening cuffs.  It was a professional job.  She would expect nothing less from the captain of the _Destiny Ascension_ , an asari military officer of high standing for more than two centuries.  The chair itself was rather fragile.  If she had use of her biotics, it would be a smoking pile of ash and metal shavings on the floor by now.  Even if she had a single leg free she could smash it to pieces.  But she was well and truly trapped.  The question, of course, was why.

She decided to test Lidanya's boundaries. That was always a fun game, "Unless 'here' is your shithole of a ship.  It is, isn't it?"

Lidanya flexed her arms subconsciously, "You should show more respect, Aria.  _The Destiny_ _Ascension_ is the flagship of the asari fleet.  Your fleet.  I have nearly 10,000 soldiers here at my disposal.  You're lucky you aren't dead already." 

Aria grinned lopsidedly.  This was just too easy, "So we are on your garbage scow.  How accommodating of you to tell me." 

Lidanya jumped into a more aggressive posture and bared her teeth at Aria. 

Tevos sat forward and said, "Matriarch Lidanya, I demand to know..." 

Aria shot her a warning look, but it was Lidanya who cut her off, "Shut up, Councilor!  I have been very polite to you so far, but I can change that policy at any time." 

Warning flashed in Aria's head.  She had found the boundary and now she needed to back away from it, "Why have you been so accommodating to Councilor Tevos, Lidanya?  After all, you did just try to kill her.  In fact, plan B has so far been much more successful than plan A.  Why the crude initial attempt?"

The acknowledgement of her success wasn't exactly a compliment, but it soothed the soldier enough to turn her attention back to Aria.  Since that had been the goal in the first place, Aria allowed herself an unsteady breath.  Lidanya took a step towards her and smiled in what she probably assumed was a wolfish manner.  It looked more like constipation to Aria, but she decided not to mention it.  This time.  

"That wasn't me, actually.  I applaud whoever it was that tried to take out this do-gooder.  If she had the balls to be a bit more violent she could have been a justicar. As it is she’s just a whelp of a politician."  Tevos let out an offended huff and Aria shot her another warning look.  "No.  She was just a bonus.  I was after you, T'loak.” 

This revelation caught Aria off-guard.  She disliked the sensation, and was unable to keep it from her face.  Lidanya laughed triumphantly and Aria snarled, asking, "What could you possibly want from me? If this is blackmail, you should know that I wrote the book. Don’t challenge a master."

The asari practically purred, "Oh, I think you know what this is about."

Aria couldn't resist, "We tried that once before, don't you remember?  I recall being completely unsatisfied by the encounter, but you did... give it your all.  Maybe, if you've learned your way around the bedroom in the last fifty years I can give you a chance to make up for it."

Lidanya lashed out with an open hand and Aria's face stung from the slap.  Aria's smile was far more predatory than Lidanya's attempt when she said, "That's more like it.  I want my lovers to show a little spirit."

The captain wasn't able to keep from flushing slightly, but she closed her eyes for a moment and collected herself.  Tevos looked like she was going to be sick.  She had gasped and jumped at the slap, her hand going to her mouth to cover the sound.  Her body was still taut when Lidanya spoke again, this time through clenched teeth, "The colony, Aria.  Tell me where the colony is.  I'll give you this one chance or..."

Perhaps because she knew there was no threat she could make that would truly scare Aria, she left it unspoken.  She needn't have bothered.  Aria's insides were churning with fear.  There was no way she had heard Lidanya correctly.  She should not have known about the colony.  She certainly should not have known that Aria would know about it.  The implications of the question were too terrifying to contemplate.  Her mind swirled, trying to come up with an answer to how this could be happening.  Even Tevos looked at Lidanya in confusion.  If the asari councilor had no idea, how could Lidanya.

She had to cover her confusion with bluster, "The galaxy is full of colonies, Lidanya.  You'll have to be a little more specific."

There was no reply, only a knowing smile from the captain.

Aria sighed, “Very well. I can see there is no keeping the information from you. The beaches at Nevos are lovely this time of year. I think I can work a few contacts to get you a discount on a hotel room.”

Lidanya's fist curled and came towards her.  Aria thanked the Goddess.  She needed time, and another little bout of unconsciousness could afford her that time.  Unfortunately, Aria was made of stronger stuff than that.  Lidanya's knuckles were bleeding before Aria's mind finally slipped its moorings.  The last thing she heard was Tevos cry out for Lidanya to stop.  The captain allowed several more punches to fall just for good measure, but Aria was blissfully unaware of the punishment her face was taking. 

 

*****

 

_Aria sat cross legged on a thin cot, her hands held loosely in front of her, eyes closed to the view of the Alenda’ar Valley out the barred window of her room.  She meditated for the first time in many years, allowing her mind to fly weightless through the expanse of stars and nebulas.  Her spirit moved her mind's eye through images of its own accord.  After the beauty of the Pillars of Creation, the image flashed brightest green.  It resolved to show her the waving grass on the hills of Minoch.  Then the flashing glass of the surface of a lake she couldn't place.  Then they settled on Thessia.  Strange that she could have opened her eyes and seen nearly the same view.  One she had been running from since she had turned 50.  One that would be her last sight on this plane of existence._ _Tomorrow_ _she would look out over those vistas, then she would slip on the traditional robes of the supplicant, and then she would be executed for her crimes against her home and her people.  She had spent the last 48 years running from this place, nearly half her life.  Now she would die here._

_The door to her cell clicked open, but she did not open her eyes.  A throaty, harsh voice called over the sound of the door closing again, "Didn't take you for the religious type, Aria.  Missionary position, sure.  But meditating the day before they off you?  I figured you'd be trying to chew your way through the bars."_

  _"I tried.  They caught me and moved me to a new room.  There's a barrier around the window."_

  _Footsteps towards the window, and then a crackle of biotic energy and a yelp followed by a deep, rumbling chuckle, "You're one tough fuck, T'loak.  How'd they catch you anyway?"_

_She didn't answer.  She didn't open her eyes even though she had ceased her meditations._

_"It was the kid, right?  You went to visit your kid.  They laid a trap for ya, huh?  Sneaky bitches, those matriarchs of the High Council."_

_Aria did not move or answer.  She was... if not resigned to her fate, accepting of it.  She had seen Liselle, bounced the tiny blue bundle on her knee for a few moments.  The pudgy little hand had reached up and tugged at her lower lip with a wet, drooling grin.  Aria's grandmother had looked on from the kitchen, her hands balled on her wide hips, an indulgent, disappointed smile on her lips.  She had been watching Liselle since her mother had been killed.  Aria had not been bonded to Ellana, but they had loved each other in a way.  When Ellana had asked Aria to father a child between them, she had surprised herself by agreeing.  They had tried to settle down with the little blue bundle, but Ellana had gotten that old itch to fight and Aria had never lost it.  Ellana had been killed on their first raid back._

  _Aria had not spent as much time with Liselle as she had wanted.  Every time she had returned to her grandmother's home in the suburbs of Illium to see the little one she had decided to stay.  Then the ghosts would visit her at night and she would leave.  She apologized again and again, but she had never really meant it.  It had been her grandmother who had called the authorities.  Set up the arrest.  She had thought a few decades in jail would still the wandering in Aria's blood.  She hadn't known the worst that Aria had done.  Death sentences were so rare among the asari, who were an indulgent people.  How could she have known that her own granddaughter would die for that wild blood?_

  _"I knew your mom, ya know."  The husky voice would not stop.  "She was one of the bravest and strongest of our kind.  Damn fucking shame what they did to her.  You were there, huh?"_

  _She squeezed her eyes shut and held the memories at arm's length from her heart.  She had learned to examine the images in her mind without allowing them to touch her.  It had been her 50th birthday celebration.  She had been about to graduate from university and had already joined the ranks of the elite asari commandos responsible for protecting the Matriarchs.  Protecting her mother, the leader of her people.  She was a beloved figure on Thessia.  Everywhere they went, strangers would surge forward and beg for the opportunity to speak with her, touch her hand, thank her for the good work she was doing.  Her father, a bent and aged turian with a kind face and bony arms that would hug Aria to him with all his remaining strength, would smile on the crowds with pride.  Her mother had fought hard for the acceptance of purebloods.  Despite the stigma against the practice of bonding with another asari, there was a huge population that either loved another asari, or was the child of two asari. They were ostracized and belittled and her mother was changing all of that.  There was a real chance to change the world with kindness, her mother would say._

_A lavender face moved swiftly through the crowd as they were on their way to dinner at Aria's favorite restaurant.  Aria caught a glimpse and felt her stomach fall for no particular reason.  Perhaps the Goddess was trying to warn her.  The asari's five daughters had all fallen under the sway of an Ardat-Yakshi.  She was insane with grief and she raised the pistol and Aria was an orphan.  The worst betrayal came when the other Matriarchs chose to blame the Ardat- Yakshi for the deaths of her mother and father, rather than the hate that came from intolerance.  Being pure blood was once again a badge of shame.  The backlash was severe and the crowds that had embraced her mother's kindness spit it back at Aria as venom.  She fled her life.  She fled her home.  She fled her grief._

_Aria's eyes opened and she looked at the asari matriarch with all the hate she had amassed over the last half century.  It was the only fortune she would ever make, "Don't speak to me about my mother."_

_Aethyta held up her hands in submission, "Hey, kid, it sucks, I know.  Life's given you more shit than a blind drell in a sewage pipe.  That doesn't mean you give up, though.  Life fucks you, you strap one on and fuck it right back, I always say."  She pointed a finger at Aria with a determination in her expression as if this next part was the truly important part.  "And no. damn. lube.  You got me?"_

  _Aria tried with everything that she had in her to not like this strange asari.  She failed miserably, but she tried to hide it, "What the hell are you talking about?"_

_Aethyta came to sit beside Aria on the cot, "When was the last time you felt good about yourself?   When was the last time you blew some idiots brains out and thought 'That was a good thing I just did'?  Don't you want to feel like you did when your ma was around?  Do you really want to go out there_ _tomorrow_ _and lay down and let them kill you when you have left nothing good on this plane?  Don't you want that little blueberry of yours to be proud of you?"_

  _Aria tried to keep it all at arm's length from her heart, but she couldn't.  She had been thinking the same ever since they locked her in this little room with no company but her regrets.  She had nearly gone insane with grief.  Not for her mother or Ellana or her lost future.  She had grieved for the person she was on her 50th birthday.  The maiden without sorrow who had a bright future.  No one had mourned that life lost because there were none left but her to remember that person.  Now she wanted it back, and this crass asari who had just scratched her crotch waiting for Aria to reply was offering it to her.  There had to be a catch._

_"What do you want?"_

_"Not what I want, babe.  What the High Council wants."  Aria was instantly won over by the sarcastic emphasis she put on the title.  "The universe looks to be getting bigger and wilder.  The batarians are like a bad case of crabs, they keep spreading no matter how much we wash.  Looks like the humans are finally gonna figure out how to get off their rock soon.  The volus and the elcor have finally figured out how to rub two thoughts together, so they'll be making moves.  Soon we're gonna have a few too many guests at the party, and we need to make sure we have an ear to the ground, yeah?  But we're all just and kind and not warlike.  So we need to be subtle, ya know?"_

_She picked at her teeth and then spit something faintly green across the room.  It landed on the only chair in the room and spread itself thin along the surface, "There's a little station full of pirates and bandits on the edge of the Terminus. There’s an old eezo mine there.  People call it Omega, ya heard of it?"_

_Aria grunted, "It's a pisspot.  Stinks like vorcha sweat and is run by a krogan who couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag."_

_Aethyta gave her a toothy grin, "Well, soon it'll be_ your _pisspot, girly.  We want you to take it, we can give you quiet support.  Weapons.  Logistics.  Maybe a hapless sidekick or two, but it'll be up to you.  Then you keep Thessia up to date on the goings on of the rim.  Send some supplies our way.  Take out a few nastier characters.  You'll have a contact who will pass along instructions.  For the most part, though, it'll be your baby.  Do what you want with it.  Steal and kill and pillage all you want.  As long as it's in the best interests of the mother planet, that is."_

  _"You want me to make my daughter proud by being a pirate who calls home every now and then?"_

  _"Sweetheart, a pirate is just a grunt.  I want you to be a Pirate Queen!  Besides, when you do it secretly for a government, it's called being a spy."_

  _Aria grinned with a savage pleasure.  She could stay the ruthless merc and also be the person she was before her world fell apart.  This was going to be fun._

_Aethyta's face turned deadly serious, "Don't be so happy.  This is not like being some merc.  You will have to lie better than the best lier you've ever met.  You'll have to manipulate better than anyone has ever manipulated you.  You will never be able to tell anyone other than your contact who you really are.  You will be alone in a pack of rabid varren and you will have to convince them that you are the biggest, baddest one of them all.  You slip once and you will be tortured and killed and they will destroy everyone you have ever loved.  This ain't some picnic.  This is a life-long commitment, and you can save Thessia a thousand times but no one with any class will want to sit at the same table as you.  They'll think you're scum when you are the best of all of us.  Even better than your mom.  But they'll trash you the way they trashed her and you'll be alive to watch it happen.  Can you handle it?"_

_If Aria had known then what she knew now she would have gone skipping and singing to her executioner.  It was a million times worse than Aethyta ever made it appear.  But at the time she was only 98 and she had the confidence and stupidity of youth.  Maybe she had an inkling, because she felt the weight of it when she nodded her assent.  Aethyta's smile was bittersweet._

_"We'll have to make it look like you broke outta here."  She stood and started to the door.  "Be ready."_

_"Hey!"_

_Aethyta turned and looked at Aria, who asked in a quiet voice, "Why are you doing this for me?"_

_"In a hundred years you'll hate me for what I'm doing TO you instead of FOR you."  She looked at the floor and said with a conviction and regret foreign to her voice, "Maybe it's 'cause.... 'cause if your mom had lived... I may have gotten to see my own blueberry grow up."_

_Aethyta's eyes locked with Aria's and she saw all the pain and regret and hopelessness that came with a lifespan measured in centuries rather than decades.  Then she was gone and Aria never spoke to her again.  She never even learned the matriarch's name._


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of blood dripping from Aria's nose onto her leather pants in a slow, monotonous rhythm filled the little metal room.  It was eerie, like water dripping in a cave, and it was setting Tevos's teeth on edge.  She had not led a quiet life since ascending to the position of asari councilor nearly forty years earlier.  She was surrounded by aides and secretaries.  She received constant communication from the High Command on Thessia and lobbyists on the Citadel.  To be alone in a small, quiet room with only an unconscious, bleeding companion was unsettling.  An unconscious bleeding criminal companion at that.  She tried to meditate.  She tried to relax.  She tried to think.  Nothing would work.  She had to stop the sound of the blood plunking wetly on stretched leather or she would scream.

She let out an exasperated breath and fidgeted.  Surely Aria T'loak should have woken up by now.  True, Lidanya's attack had been brutal, but the time since she had left the room without a word to Tevos, thick purple streaks covering both hands, seemed an eternity ago.  Tevos looked over at Aria, her head bent, her breathing low.  The position that she had been chained to the chair meant that Tevos could see her face.  The chiseled jaw was swollen in several spots, the purple skin black with bruising.  Her nose was split at the bridge, but still maintained the straight and graceful slope Tevos was familiar with.  Her right eye was bruised and only a little puffy, the markings on her temples still perfect and thin.  The thick dark stripe on her lower lip was split and oozing purple blood.  Tevos stared at it long enough to see a bead rise and distort the mark further.

Tevos had seen Aria on the Citadel many times over her years of service.  Despite the criminal’s protestations of dislike, she was a frequent visitor to the station.  As an asari, Tevos appreciated beauty.  It was an important part of their culture.  Her avid appreciation of Aria's beauty, however, was distracting and infuriating.  She did not approve of Aria T'loak.  She was a mercenary.  A menace.  A pirate.  A smuggler.  A killer.  But she was also the most perfect specimen in a glorious race.  Her statuesque beauty was captivating.  Her confidence alluring.  Had she been an upstanding member of the public, perhaps a military leader or a politician, Tevos would defy the critics and throw herself at Aria without shame.  The Goddess, however, had chosen to put an angel's face in a devil's body.  Tevos could not abide a lawbreaker.  She had spent every one of her 200 years pursuing peace and cooperation between species bound by clear lines defined by fair and just laws.  Aria lived outside those lines, and Tevos had no respect for an individual who put their own pleasure and profit above the good of society.  So she admired the vessel from afar whilst despising its contents.

Now that she had leisure to admire the vessel at close quarters, some of the mystique had worn off.  True, her bravery in the face of senseless violence was admirable.  It was, however, completely pointless.  She needled Lidanya purposefully, increasing the punishment she knew she was sure to get.  And for what? Tevos couldn’t imagine. Her own profit, no doubt.  A pile of credits scavenged from the corpses of hard working asari and turian and humans.  Or the chance to peddle red sand to the poor and helpless in the galaxy.  The people of all races that Tevos had spent a lifetime trying to protect were being wooed away from help by the promise of a few hours of bliss followed by a lifetime of addiction and pain.  Perhaps a chance to sign up a few young people to die in her attempt to gain more power?  Anger flared in Tevos and it forced her to her feet.

She took a few halting steps toward Aria.  Her chest was still moving, but her breaths were shallow.  She was certainly still lost to the world around her.  Tevos angrily pulled a handkerchief from the tight wrist of her dress.  It was an old fashioned habit, keeping a handkerchief in her wrist.  Her mother had always kept one there when Tevos was young, and her mother’s passing ten years earlier had made her nostalgic. She put a handkerchief in the wrist of her dress to attend the funeral, and she had carried one there ever since.  She knelt in front of Aria, adjusting the clinging fabric around her legs to help her move with more ease.  She stretched out the thin fabric warily, not wanting to startle Aria awake.  The metallic smell of blood mixed with a warmth of leather and the tang of recycled air.  She touched the fabric to Aria's nose as gently as she could, but the asari flinched at the contact regardless.  Tevos scooted away, but Aria had not awoken.  The movement must have been involuntary. 

She summoned her resolve.  This was silly.  She was no wilting flower.  She was a woman of action, albeit in a different way than the fighter in front of her.  She stiffened her spine and felt better than she had since waking up in this dank dungeon.  This time she pressed the fabric hard against the bridge of Aria's nose, pinching to stop the blood flow inside.  Aria grunted in pain and began to stir.  Tevos held firm pressure for a few moments, until she supposed the blood must have stopped.  When she pulled the handkerchief away, she saw that she had been correct.  She smiled triumphantly and began to wipe the drying blood from the criminal's face.  It smeared in places, but her skin tone was nearly the same color.  

When she wiped at the split on Aria's bottom lip, the asari hissed in pain, "That hurts, you know."

"Yes, well, I suppose you are not unfamiliar with being bloodied up by someone."

Aria grinned, and the split opened again, "It is an occupational hazard."

Tevos dabbed at the lip, frustration over Aria's flippancy bubbling up, "Did you have to be so disagreeable?"

"It's in my nature, dear."

The familiarity made Tevos's cheeks burn, "Yes, well, perhaps you should embrace a better nature.  I'm sure we wouldn't be in this predicament if you weren't such a hedonistic, lawless, selfish criminal."

"On the contrary, Councilor."  The voice boomed out from behind Tevos with shocking malice.  "If that was all Aria was, I would have no use for her at all.  Sit back down."

Tevos looked into Aria's eyes with concern, but she motioned her chin towards the chair across the room and gave her a tiny, confident nod.  Somehow, even knowing that nothing good was likely to happen with Lidanya back, she felt bolstered by Aria's resolve.  She stood with dignity and walked back to her chair.  The other two asari watched, despite themselves, as she sat down gracefully and crossed her ankles, her hands on her knees.

Lidanya leaned against the wall again, trying and failing once more to appear relaxed.  She was wound tight as a spring, and there was a chaffing below the surface that Aria, so attuned at reading others, could see but not account for.  Something was off with the asari.  Something deep and troubling.

"We've worked together a long time, Councilor.  May I call you Gabrielle?"

Tevos responded evenly, "You may call me Councilor Tevos."

Aria chest exploded with pride, but her face remained calm.  Lidanya, put back into her subservient role, responded vindictively, "I see. Well, perhaps you aren't as well informed as I am _, Councilor Tevos_.  Aria is far more than the Pirate Queen of Omega."

Aria held very still, not rising to the bait.  She needed to know how much Lidanya knew.  The depth of her knowledge would betray her source.  It was essential that Aria find out her source.

"Didn't it strike you as odd that the matriarchs pardoned Aria's past crimes several decades ago?  They stayed her execution order, though that wasn't widely published.  Then, when she was booted from Omega, they ordered you to do 'everything in your power to accommodate her' during her stay.  Why would they do so much for a common criminal?"

Tevos shifted her posture slightly, "I assumed... that... her mother was a very important matriarch.  She was a champion of the oppressed and I assumed the High Command was indulging the daughter as a sign of respect for the mother."

Aria was unaccountably pleased that Tevos obviously respected her mother.  She could not afford at the moment to allow herself to get lost in that warm feeling, so she held it away from her.  She schooled her features to remain uninterested in the conversation.

"Hmmm... I'm surprised to hear that you know about Aria's family connections.  Most people buy the mystique that has been built around her. You seem to be well informed about her.  But I am guessing you don't know the secret I learned from a chat I had with Sha'ira."

Aria forced herself to remain calm, but Lidanya must know she had scored a point.  Her voice was gleeful as she continued, "The consort was a guest in this very room not long ago.  She was... more amenable to my questions that you have been so far."

Aria lost her control.  She bared her teeth and when she spoke spit and blood flew with them, "If you have hurt her, Lidanya..."

It was Tevos's voice that cut her off.  She looked horrified, "You tortured the Consort?  How dare you lay hands on…”

Lidanya's chuckle was full of triumph, "Calm yourself, Councilor.  She was not harmed.  Not physically, at any rate."  She turned malicious eyes on Aria, who had stilled outwardly.  "Considering that she holds a role of such importance, she should have worked harder on her mental barriers.  Of course, I know a few tricks she isn't familiar with.  She gave all to me that I wanted to take and more.  She was so open to suggestion that I gave a little in return.  She thinks that she met with you, in fact.  She is waiting at the Silver Coast Casino for an important meeting.  She will be waiting for some time."

Aria's heart ached for Sha'ira.  Among the asari, there is no greater crime than to force one's self into another's mind.  Taking memories and feelings from the most intimate of environments is a violation beyond description.  Of all of the terrible things Aria had done in her life, that was a line she would never dream of crossing.  Sha'ira was a pure soul.  A good soul.  To erect barriers in her mind when her whole purpose was to embrace others and encourage them would be unthinkable to her.  Aria had spoken to her about protecting herself many times over the last century that they were involved, but she always refused.  She was polite but firm, and always apologetic that this put Aria at risk.  She had to be true to herself, however, and Aria had grown to respect that.  Now her heart broke for the woman. 

Tevos sounded on the verge of tears, "To do that to someone... you are a monster.  Aria... your bondmate... I'm so sorry."

Lidanya laughed harder than ever and shook her head, "Oh, Tevos.  So easily swayed.  What makes you think that Aria and Sha'ira were bonded?"

She blushed and averted her eyes, "They have seen much of each other for many years.  I just assumed..."

"Ah, yes.  Everyone assumed.  That was why she was chosen for the job, was it not, Aria?  What else would draw the Pirate Queen to the Citadel on a regular basis for one hundred years?  No.  Forgive me for disillusioning you, Councilor.  Sha'ira is not Aria's bondmate.  She is her handler.  Her contact within the asari government.  Aria here is the matriarch's best and most successful spy."

 

*******

 

_"Welcome to the Citadel, Aria T'loak.  I am told this is your first visit to our lovely station."_

_Aria stood just inside the doorway of the opulent quarters.  She wore a tight black suit with a long, shimmering black leather coat.  It just brushed the marble floor when she was still and the high collar nearly reached the base of her crest.  She had taken it from the storefront of a meddlesome batarian on Omega not long after her successful coup.  The batarian had been organizing an army to make a bid for power himself.  Aria had put him down with a ruthlessness that made her teeth and loins ache in equal measure.  She spotted the coat and ripped it from the mannequin, slipping her arms through the tight fabric.  She felt powerful in that moment, her vengeance sated._

_Now two months had passed.  The situation on Omega was stable, and she had received word that she was to go to meet her contact at the Citadel.  They had led her a merry dance of letter drops and hidden directions until she found herself being ushered to her appointment with Sha'ira, the Asari Consort.  The woman herself was beautiful and warm.  She sat on a long, cream colored couch in a crimson dress that highlighted how light the sky blue of her skin was.  She lounged with a casual grace, her arm thrown over the back of the couch, her long fingers wrapped in rings.  Aria suddenly felt very young and foolish._

_Sha'ira patted the seat beside her, "Come, we have much to discuss.  I hope that we shall be seeing a lot of each other in the coming years.  First, I want to know about you.  Then we will discuss the situation in the Terminus.  Then I will pass along to you some requests from the High Command.  I can see they were right to entrust this mission to you.  You have a fire in you.  It can either be a destructive force, or a light in the darkness.  How you choose to use it is up to you, but I think we both know that your mother's undying love for our people is still a strong force in you.  Given the choice, you will be loyal to the asari people."_

_Aria left the chamber a long time later feeling like she had just stepped through a hurricane.  She had yet to land on her feet, but she would.  Soon she would even come to feel equal with the older, wiser asari.  Too soon she would discover Sha'ira was the inexperienced one.  They would become deeply attached to each other, but never romantically or even sexually.  That was, for obvious reasons, the cover created for them, but their relationship was deeper than even love could touch.  A hundred years of trust and confidences and pain, all shared with each other and no one else._

 

*****

 

Tevos was shocked and disbelieving, "You cannot possibly be serious, Matriarch Lidanya."

"Oh, but I am.  I saw it all in her mind.  She could not possibly lie with her memories.  It took a while to sort through them, and I am sure I did not get everything. A hundred years worth of memories…  We did not have the luxury of time that I have with Agent T'loak."

A glimmer of hope sprang up in Aria's chest.  She sheltered it as best she could, holding on and protecting it.  She imagined it as a single candle in a sandstorm.  She used her body and her wit to keep it lit against all odds.  This was a moment she had to find that something special in herself again.  She had done this so many times that she was feeling tired.  She was an athlete past her prime, trying to will her body into the miracles it may no longer be able to perform.

Lidanya spoke again, "Do you remember, Councilor, a mercenary group called Solar Flare?  No?  They were a group of vicious asari rebels who saw you as a threat.  Their plan to eliminate you with an assault team just after your election would have thrown the Thessian populace into a tail spin.  There were thirty of them waiting for you to land on the Citadel your first day in office."

"I'm sure I would have heard..."

"You would have, but Aria got wind of their plans and eliminated not only the strike team, but also stormed their base and wiped them from the galaxy.  Your ship landed and not even C-sec was any the wiser."

Aria stared at the wall over Tevos's head.

"Or perhaps you recall the bombing plot on Illium seventy-five years ago?  A Thorian derived poison was to be used and the entire city enslaved.  Aria confiscated the shipments of materials and manipulated the scientists to work for her instead of making their bomb.  Several million asari lives were saved."

Tevos shook her head and looked at Aria, who refused to look back.  She was thinking hard of how best to play the situation, and her mind was frustratingly blank.

"There was an army of rachni headed for Sur’kesh whose ship contained a faulty oxygen recycler sourced from Omega.  Billions of rachni died and the ghost ship was repaired and added to Omega's fleet.  She has personally intervened in no fewer than five assassination attempts against you, Councilor.  Perhaps you are too honorable for your own good.  People do seem to want you dead."

Tevos was staring at Aria with something like betrayal.

"The greatest of her moments however.  Well, I am sure you remember this.  You recall the surprise batarian invasion of our homeworld itself.  They sent three quarters of their fleet in a lightning fast strike.  The surprise attack wiped out half the population of Thessia before a distress call could be sent.  Then they enslaved the survivors and fire bombed the planet.  Salted the earth.  Thessia was left looking almost exactly like Tuchanka."

"There was no such attack!"

"You have Aria to thank for that.  In fact, she could not trust her mercs on Omega to help, since so many of them are batarian.  So she had to attack a lead cruiser single handedly and send a fake warning message.  She made the fleet think they were being attacked by the whole of the asari navy.  They turned back, she blew the ship.  Thessia was saved."

Aria shifted her gaze to Lidanya lazily.  Her filled her voice with mockery and felt like the confident Aria she needed to be, "Who knew you were such a fan?  Maybe I shouldn't give you such a hard time for fucking like a dead hanar after all."

Lidanya exploded with rage and slammed her fists into Aria's stomach over and over and over.  Aria kept her eyes locked on Tevos to distract herself from the pain. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this chapter focuses on my theory of asari markings- what they are, how they get them, etc. I spent a lot of time trying to find out if there has been any official word on the markings, and there was nothing I could find. So I let my imagination make what I hope is a unique and interesting story. Hope you enjoy!

The insistent beeping of Lidanya's omnitool saved Aria's obliques any further punishment.  It flashed and toned at least half a dozen times before she finally stood upright, panting, and wiped the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her uniform.  Aria saw little flecks of discarded blue skin mixing with the moisture on the black fabric.  She slowly relaxed her abdominal muscles, easing into the pain slowly, hoping that caution would keep her from vomiting.  That would certainly kill the air of bravado she was maintaining. 

"I'll be back soon."  Lidanya said between gulps of air.  "You better be ready to talk, T'loak.  You and I both know I can cause more pain without my fists."

Aria didn't answer.  She stared at the wall and breathed as evenly as possible.

Lidanya walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. 

Tevos's voice was strong when she asked, "Are you alright?"

Aria nodded, but felt saliva collect ominously at the back of her throat.  She allowed her abdomen to fully relax, and she winced.

"Aria..."

She shook her head, swallowing hard.  Dropping her head, she closed her eyes as she breathed.  With each deep breath the pain lessened, or she became used to it, she wasn't sure which.  Tevos allowed her time to recover.  Aria angled her gaze as acutely as possible, wanting to watch the councilor without raising her head.

Most species were not aware, the asari did not broadcast the information freely, but the facial markings rarely seen among the people of Thessia are not present at birth. They also aren’t makeup or tattooing.  The markings are natural, but they develop over the maiden stage of an asari's life.  The mechanism is not fully understood, even though some of the top scientists of the long lived people have studied it for millennia.  The markings appear individually after major life events.  When an asari maiden actively participates in an event that will change the shape of their future irrevocably, she will feel a faintness followed by a short period of facial discomfort.  Within a Thessian day from that time, the outlines of a pattern will appear.  Depending on her actions related to the event, the markings will darken or lighten (generally dependent upon the skin tone of the asari in question) and become defined.  It can take several days or even several weeks for the final pattern to show. 

The word for these markings in the asari language roughly translates to 'scars of the Goddess'.  The mystical nature of them is one of the reasons that the race have been unwilling to completely separate themselves from the old religion.  It is widely believed that having a turian father, especially one who exhibits prominent facial markings himself, increases an individual's chances of developing the markings, though this has never been definitively proven.  The vast majority of asari live the entire thousand year life span without obtaining even the eyebrow-like pattern that usually appear first.  Some unmarked asari are jealous in their youth of those who are marked, seeing them as having life experience and purpose unattainable to others.  Most asari, and especially the elders, hold those with facial markings in high esteem.

As Aria's eyes scanned Tevos's face, the bold stripes that nearly covered every inch of the asari's face enchanted her.  They always had.  Aria's own markings were dark purple, and the striking contrast of the jagged white lines Tevos possessed made her nerve endings hum.  Not for the first time, her fingers twitched with the need to trace those lines.  She wanted to know what she had done to earn them.  It was no wonder the woman had won election as councilor in a landslide.  How could a woman with so full a life at her young age _not_ be the perfect choice?

Aria remembered her own bitter disappointment each time she was sure she had earned a mark and it did not appear.  Surely the pain of watching her parents die had earned something?  But no, she realized, that had happened to her.  She had sat in the pool of swirling purple and blue blood and wept, but she there was no action on her part.  She had killed her first enemy, watching the turian's chest cave and crumple like a paper bag underfoot.  She smiled and waited for the giddiness to envelop her, for the itching on her brow ridges to start.  She stood so long in anticipation that she was nearly crushed by a charging krogan.  Surely this moment marked the start of her new life.  Her finger had squeezed the trigger, her skill had bested another's.  Still, it did not come.  The first time she led an assault.  The first million credits she acquired.  When she fathered Liselle.  Nothing.  Not a twitch of her muscles, not a blemish on her perfect skin.  The frustration ate at her like a parasite in an open wound.  She cursed the Goddess and flung aside her beliefs and she rampaged throughout the galaxy with impotent rage that no action on her part seemed able to touch the spirits.  She felt scarred, but her body would not tell the world.

Then she was visited in prison by a matriarch who saved and destroyed her life in a single moment.  She had said yes, and the navy skinned creature had walked out the door.  Then the world exploded in a white flash and she awoke hours later to a throbbing on her brow ridges.  By the time the power was cut to the facility and she had slipped into the void, thin lines were already visible on her face.  The delicacy of her lines had annoyed her initially.  She wanted bold brushstrokes of brightest white.  She wanted every asari she passed to know with a glance that she had the world by its throat.  In time the subtlety of her markings would come to be very special to her.

The lips on the face she watched parted again, and Aria averted her eyes, hoping she had not been caught admiring, "Aria... all of that... was that true?"

Aria remained quiet for some time, weighing her options.  She fell back on old habits, "I'm afraid it is.  I'm a tiger in the sack.  Lidanya's worthless.  Too bad we can't fake it like human women.  I would have just to get the hell outta there."

Tevos let out a frustrated huff and turned her head away.  Aria had a moment to admire the graceful lines of her long neck and the deep curves of her crest.  Then she sighed, defeated and said, "Look, I... I'm not a fucking saint here, Brielle.  Don't expect so much from me.  I will admit... I am... more than the Queen of Omega."

Tevos held her body very still.  Leave it to Aria to take a liberty she had neither asked for, nor been granted.  As the voice for a noble civilization, few people dreamt of calling her by anything but her last name or title. 

Among her asari and salarian families, she was referred to as Gabrielle.  Her salarian relatives particularly chafed at the concept of shortening her given name.  Udina and some of his more repellant human secretaries would insist on calling her 'Gabby'.  She had no idea why they did this, and she was not raised to dress others down when they were being friendly.  Then the broad-shouldered, kind-hearted male human bondmate of one of her aides had awkwardly informed her that the name was a diminutive nickname.  An address suited to a female child.  She had steamed for many days over the insult, but had been professional when asking the human councilor to stop using the name.  He often slipped.  Usually when there were several other males of any species around and he was trying to puff himself up.  She had not been exactly happy when Shepard had shot Udina, but she had not mourned his loss for a moment.

She had come to think of herself as Tevos when she thought of herself at all.  Those occasions were increasingly rare.  No one had ever called her Brielle, but she found the name beautiful. To hear Aria speak to her so familiarly, especially after all she had seen of the woman's bravery, made her stomach flip.  She clenched her hands in her lap with annoyance that the woman had not answered her question.

"Have you stopped terrorist plots aimed against the asari people?"

The tone was so commanding that Aria found herself nodding before she knew what she was doing.

Tevos's hands relaxed slightly with surprise.  She decided to try more, "Have you provided intelligence to the asari government?"

Aria locked her gaze and nodded.  She had spent a hundred years hiding everything that she was, she couldn't quite say the words out loud.  Still, it seemed pointless to hide these facts from the councilor when they were already there, in the room with them.

"Did you take control of the Omega station at the request of the asari High Command?"

Aria hesitated, but the woman looked at her with a defiance she knew would not be satisfied until she had the truth. She nodded.

Tevos's voice was very small when she asked, "Have you truly saved my life five times?"

"Councilor..."

"Please... just answer me."

"No."  Tevos's confusion was evident, so Aria continued.  "Counting the Cerberus coup attempt on the Citadel and the attempt yesterday, I have saved your life eight times."

"The Cerberus coup?  But that was Commander Shepard!"

Aria's teeth grated, "Shepard's great, she's a friend.  But she will insist on taking credit for everything."

 

*****

 

_The team of bodyguards and mercs she kept within reach had arrived at her couch seconds after the first explosions.  They had appeared out of the crowd as if by magic, but Aria had worked hard to make sure they had been able to melt away in the first place.  She was on her feet, the heels of her boots clicking on the polished metal floor.  The explosions had not been in Purgatory, but they were close enough to be heard over the pulse of the music.  She held her hand out lazily as she descended the stairs and her pistol was immediately in it.  She released the safety and checked the thermal clip without breaking stride._

_Turian soldiers poured down the steps behind her with purpose.  The humans needed a bit more corralling.  They were still looking around with the perpetual confusion of their race as Aria stepped through the door and left the bar behind.  She saw the smoke coming from the Presidium Commons at once.  Her team fanned out in a V behind her as they made their way to the elevator.  A shuttle flashed by the huge windows, the hated logo emblazoned on the door that opened to release a stream of soldiers.  Aria bared her teeth and aimed her weapon._

_She had stopped counting the number of lives she took when she was 150.  She now only kept track enough to ensure she never overheated her weapon by not changing clips.  The faceless morons who dared stand in her way fell thick enough that she had to start poaching clips from their corpses as she passed.  It was a good fight, but she was well outnumbered.  If only Shepard had come to help her retake Omega before all of this, she would have hordes at her disposal.  She tried not to see how many innocents lay tangled among the bodies of her enemies.  She had not shot a single one of them, but she felt their loss keenly.  Since taking up her banner as the white knight of Thessia she had tried to limit the destruction she wrought in the galaxy.  Hoping that her abstinence now and her good deeds would wipe the slate clean with Athame when they met._

_The balance was certainly tipping as she fought her way to the center of the Commons.  She wanted to believe that she and her team were making the difference, but she had her doubts.  Something ahead was siphoning off some of the enemy.  She could guess who that 'something' was.  She shifted her attentions to clearing civilians from the area.  Shepard had a tendency to blow things up, best the huddled masses be far away before she burst onto the scene.  She ran out of cover and vaulted over a railing to Apollo’s Cafe below._

_"Everyone out!  Up the stairs!  Move!"_

_Humans hunched and ran, hands over their heads as if the feeble cover would stop a shower of bullets the way it would stop a rain shower.  She directed her team to get them into the apartments behind.  There was a flash of a familiar navy blue color, but she decided she had imagined it.  She didn't see any asari in the crowd.  The tables and benches clear, she moved down to the shopping area.  An engineer in black was setting up a turret at the top of the stairs.  Aria came up behind him, overloaded his shields, and dispatched him before he knew she was there.  The turret exploded in a shower of sparks._

_The next level was quiet and deserted.  She was hurrying to the stairs up to the other stores when she hear a sniffle.  She froze.  The sniffle came again.  A soft, broken noise.  Aria threw herself over the counter and landed with her pistol in the face of an asari sitting in a tight blue dress, clutching a datapad to her chest, tears streaming down her face._

_The asari was clearly in shock.  She shouted between sobs, "Please!... I just came back... couldn't leave... all I had left... Charr!"_

_She dissolved into tears again and Aria lowered her pistol, "Where is Charr?  Is he in here with you?"_

_She looked over the shoulders of the asari, scanning the open stall for other survivors.  Another asari's crumpled form sprawled in the corner.  The force of the shot that ended her life had thrown her against the leg of a desk, the shoulder of her dress pulled down grotesquely by the sliding of her body.  Aria nearly stood to cover the woman's immodesty, but she had other concerns at the moment._

_"Hey!  What's your name?"  She shook the sobbing figure slightly._

_"E... Ereba.  I'm Ereba."_

_"Okay, Ereba.  Where is Charr?"_

_The asari dissolved into tears and held up the datapad, proffering it to Aria as if it would explain something.  Aria looked at the words.  "To my Blue Rose of Illium..."  She did not have to read much more.  Charr was dead on a distant planet like a million others.  Her heart ached for Ereba, but she had no time left.  Over her shoulder the stomping gait of an Atlas could be heard.  She dragged Ereba by the arm to cover behind the counter.  She took three deep breaths and popped up from behind the counter, aiming her pistol at the robotic beast.  She emptied two clips into it.  While she was reloading, the thing exploded and hot metal rained down on her._

_She watched Shepard sprint by with Liara and Garrus.  She growled.  Shepard would think she had taken down the Atlas despite her own valiant efforts.  She wanted to wing Shepard for the insult.  Just a single shot to her flank shields to teach her a lesson.  But the woman was gone and Aria still needed her support for Omega.  The matriarchs were lost without the steady stream of troop movement intel she had been feeding them.  Thessia needed her to keep cool.  She brutally yanked Ereba to her feet and sent her and her bloody damn datapad off to safety._

_Then she walked over to the asari, pulled the dress back over her blood streaked breast and spoke quietly, "May your soul find its way to the arms of the Goddess."_

_"Aria!"  One of her guards ran to her side as she stood.  "Team of Cerberus assassins just boarded the elevator by the bank.  Sounds like they are converging on the shuttle landing zone on the top deck.  They're going after the council!"_

_Aria's blood ran cold.  She spotted an entrance to the air ducts in the back of the store, "Get everyone in here, now!  And tap into the Cerberus communications.  I want to know where they are and what they are doing before they do."_

_She made her way through the ducts, listening to Shepard and Bailey talk about the team's movements through her earpiece.  She knew the Citadel almost as well as she knew Omega by now.  When Shepard blew the power on the Cerberus elevator, she knew where they would have to go to get a new one.  Her team burst into the elevator lobby and she saw the team.  Bullets flew, but all she saw was the face of Kei Lang.  His synthetic eyes caught hers and he smiled like a cartoon devil._

_Her team was following the directions she had given them.  They were securing an elevator to get them to the top.  Aria had to protect Councilor Tevos.  They were waving her to come over.  She hesitated.  Her mind shouted at her to get to the council.  Her soul sang to end the Cerberus assassin.  Aria T'loak never did the smart thing.  She let out a feral roar and hurled herself towards the man with the sword.  She did not see anything but him.  He had shifted his grip on the sword.  He extended an empty hand before him and flexed his back, bending at the waist with his leading leg stiff in front of him.  His body was taut, ready for her attack.  She saw her daughters face and she unloaded her pistol at him as she ran._

_Blurs of color slipped past on either side.  His sword whipped through the air, batting her bullets out of midair like flies.  She unleashed a wicked flare of biotics from her free hand.  He threw his body backwards, flipping and landing on his feet inches behind the impact of her attack.  Her team abandoned the elevator and joined her.  Cerberus minions dropped like flies.  They would not make it to the roof either.  She had her eyes on Kai Leng.  He had his eyes on her.  She was one step away from launching herself through the air at him.  He was seconds from raising his sword to skewer her._

_The metal shield of a guardian smashed into her, sending her flying into the far wall.  The breath was knocked out of her.  She could not struggle to her feet.  Kai Leng shouted for a retreat.  The four soldiers left from his assault team sprinted after him.  Aria managed to summon a ball of biotic energy and hurl it at the group.  The trooper in the rear squealed in pain and fell, his lifeless body quivering as the biotics fired his nervous system for him._

_Aria howled like a wounded beast as she watched Kai Leng leap into a passing sky car._


	5. Chapter 5

Tevos had fallen asleep not long after Aria had finished telling her about the coup attempt.  She had been exhausted by their ordeal, and Aria had encouraged her to rest.  It was so much easier for her to think when those eyes weren't on her, pleading for her to help.  Aria was a lone wolf.  She had been since her youth.  The only child of one of the galaxy's true power couples, she had been well loved, but often left to her own devices.  Her military father had trained her when she was very young, and her aptitude tests for commando training had been stellar.  Her only weak spot was a tendency to dislike collaboration.  It was a trait that kept her from sticking with one merc band for too long. 

Even when she was alone with her thoughts, she found it difficult to plan.  She rarely thought about her exploits after they were done.  Too many ghosts came with them.  Lidanya and Tevos had brought up events dating back almost a hundred years, and she suddenly found herself unable to stop the flood of memories.  They filled her brain and drown out all else.  She fought enemies who had been vanquished for decades.  She kissed lovers who had come and gone through her life like smoke.  Long forgotten insults chafed at her pride, and the frustrations of politics bit at her heels.   

 

*****

 

_Broken glass crunched under her knee high leather boots as Aria strutted through the Presidium.  She walked close enough to Sha'ira to imply an intimacy, but far enough away to show nonchalance.  It was a delicate balance, but one she played to precision.  Everyone they passed, no matter their rank or race, either felt fear of Aria or desire.  Most felt both.  Sha'ira stayed a half step behind her, and the minor cue of inferiority from such a dignified individual as the consort only enhanced her prestige._

_Most of the people moving around them were giving wide berth to the large section of Sovereign buried deep in the white marble walkway.  Aria's whole purpose here, however, was to see the living ship that had nearly brought the galaxy to its knees.  She walked with measured stride around the hulking mass.  It appeared tentacle-like.  The tip of a great metal finger shorn off at the first knuckle, most of its bulk hidden below the surface.  A human in a pale beige suit approached from the opposite direction.  He shot the debris a cringing sideways glance, his body angling away from it as he hurried past in stiff, squeaking loafers.  She made eye contact with him and looked disdainful.  He averted his gaze and hurried on.  The little byplay was noticed by several small groups huddled around.  She used the interaction as an excuse to stop and turn toward the dark, burnt metal.  She made a show of inspecting it.  Proudly displaying her lack of fear.  Several of the huddled groups started whispering.  Her goal had been achieved.  Humans were so easy to manipulate._

_She turned on her heel and strutted toward a vacant bench nearby.  Her cocky grin was both a warning and a challenge.  She sat down, sprawling in the center of the bench.  She stretched her white leather clad arms out to either side and let her gloved fingers dangle over the back of the bench.  Sha'ira had watched her go, knowing how this game was played and enjoying her part in it.  Aria's gaze shot to her, and then quickly down at the seat beside her before drifting off to the crowd.  It was a command and everyone who saw it recognized it as such.  Sha'ira smiled fondly and went to her, sitting beside her and leaning back into her right arm.  They sat close, but the dignity of the consort ensured that the scene was not lascivious._

_Aria's gaze wandered back to the debris, boredom etched in her features.  She remained silent for a while, taking in the sight.  She had seen vids of the massive ship that had led Saren to his betrayal of the council and his people.  The size was difficult to imagine.  To see how huge this small piece was truly brought the gravity of the situation home to Aria._

_Sha'ira's tinkling voice floated to her.  They had both learned to pitch their voices low, allowing them to speak in public without being overheard.  Sha'ira was quite good at keeping her normal tones when she did this, "Most of the mess has been cleaned up by those efficient little Keepers.  Each night we go to bed and each morning we wake up and life is a bit closer to normal.  I fear that soon no one will remember our nightmare even happened.  This piece is so much bigger than the rest.  They seem slower to get rid of it.  Pieces have gone missing from it.  Some think the people are making off with souvenirs."_

_Aria's voice dripped with disdain, "Fools. So quick to forget and so quick to defile.  I wouldn't mind letting some of the more mindless be taken by these Reapers."_

_"You believe in them then?"_

_Aria shifted, the coolness of the air on the Citadel always made her skin squirm.  Omega was hot and dark and dirty.  It felt alive.  This place felt like a refrigerator that was too clean and too bright.  The leather of her pants didn't cling properly, "I see no reason not to.  You see some strange things in the Terminus.  Have you heard of the Collectors?  They sneak through Omega at times.  Something about them makes my crest twitch."_

_An energy seemed to hum momentarily from the vast metal finger.  Passersby flinched or shivered.  Aria continued, "Something about this feels... wrong.  This isn't the geth."_

_"Our esteemed leaders on Thessia..."_

_"Are too far removed from real life."  Aria leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, her fingers steepled in front of her mouth.  She stared at the wreckage, trying to make it talk to her.  She continued, "And so are all of you here.  This is a threat to take seriously.  Will the Council give support to this Commander Shepard?"_

_Sha'ira had met Shepard soon after she became a Spectre.  Aria had suggested she take the measure of the woman by sending her on an errand after a wretched old turian general.  The man was disgusting to Sha'ira when she rejected him, and Aria despised him after he made a slimy pass at her own daughter.  Aria's plan had worked to humiliate the old fool, but she suspected Sha'ira may have used the opportunity for a liaison of her own with the young commander.  The blush on Sha'ira's face and neck at the mention of Shepard was confirmation enough._

_"That is highly doubtful.  The matriarchs, however, are more pragmatic then you give them credit for.  While they will outwardly dismiss the Reapers, they have taken your suggestion to heart.  They appear ready to act."_

_Shortly before the Battle of the Citadel Aria had passed a plan to the High Command through Sha'ira.  She saw a need to ensure the survival of the asari in the event of the Reaper threat proving real.  She had spent weeks working secretly on plans for the colony.  She wished she could have presented her case in person, but it was out of the question.  Apparently Sha'ira had been convincing._

_Sha'ira continued when Aria's outward response was nothing but a self-satisfied smirk, "They have set plans in motion to move me to the Silean Nebula.  When you meet me there we will have more freedom to... make arrangements.  I am sure you are gratified to hear this, despite your calm demeanor."_

_"I'm just glad they listened to me for once."_

_"They have listened to you quite closely for many years.  You are trusted and valued on Thessia.  If I have failed to impress this upon you while we have met, than I have been remiss."_

_Aria grunted and waved her hands in a graceful gesture of unconcern, "I couldn't care less.  Make sure they hear this, though.  Cerberus.  They are a threat.  More immediate than the Reapers.  Something needs to be done about them."_

_Sha'ira sighed, "This is not new ground, Aria.  As I have told you before, Cerberus has taken little to no action against the asari.  There efforts in general have been pitiful.  The matriarchs will not focus on them any more than... the Blue Suns.  Or the Talons.  We have, as one of my more colorful human clients likes to say, bigger fish to fry."_

_Aria clenched her hands, nails digging into the cold leather of her leg.  This blindness of the matriarchs would cause them a bitter end someday.  At least they listened about the colony, Aria thought.  It did not calm her mood.  She was never one to tackle one problem at a time.  She much preferred it when her various problems all took care of each other._

 

****** 

_Aria sat on the plush red couch of Sha'ira's new chambers on Nevos in the Silean Nebula.  She sat on the edge of the cushions that faced a wall of glass looking out over a city of metal and concrete not seeing the view.  Her face was in her hands and she was crying.  She had not cried in years, decades really.  She was Aria T'loak, so when she did something, she really did it.  She was not just crying.  She was sobbing.  Her body shook with the force of her tears and her howls of pain.  Salty droplets poured between her purple fingers and landed on the plush carpet, darkening the beige fibers in tiny pools.  She heard the sounds of her grief echoed back to her in the cavernous room, and she felt a savage pride in the depth of her pain._

_"My daughter.... my daughter... my little girl."_

_The words interspersed with the shouts and became lost in them.  Just like Liselle was lost.  A life that should have stretched a thousand years cut to just over a century in the blink of an eye.  The image of that body she had brought into the world surrounded by oceans of purple blood was so vivid that she thought it may blind her.  She could not shake the picture.  She could see nothing else.  What had been taken from her._

_She looked up, baring her teeth and snarling across the room at Sha'ira.  The consort had been frozen in place by the intensity of Aria's pain.  Aria spit the word, "Cerberus."_

_Sha'ira had never feared Aria.  She knew, was perhaps the only one who knew, some of the things that Aria had been forced to do.  She also knew some of the things Aria did because she wanted to.  She knew the things she had done because they pleased her.  Sha'ira knew all that was this asari before her, and yet she had never feared her.  Her actions had spurned from necessity or desire, but they were not evil.  She feared Aria now.  The look in her eye was one reserved for those who had suffered and wanted to make others suffer._

_"Aria..."_

_"I warned them.  I warned you!  And now you see what Cerberus has done."_

_"She rests tonight in the arms of..."_

_Aria shot to her feet, "She rests tonight on a cold metal slab in the memorial gardens on Omega!"  She took a menacing step forward.  "Do the matriarchs believe me now?  Will they wait for millions of innocents to die before they act against Cerberus?"_

_Sha'ira shifted, her unease growing by the moment, "There are concerns about open action..."_

_"There should be concerns about my actions!"  She began pacing, her arms flying as she spoke.  "I'll kill him myself.  The Illusive Man.  Kai Leng.  Every ship that flies their colors will burn..."_

_"Shepard..."_

_"Fuck Shepard!  She's more concerned about the fucking life of one twat Ardat-Yakshi than killing that murdering terrorist boss of hers!"_

_Sha'ira tried to soothe with her words, as she had done for a century, "She makes small moves to build a foundation for her main attack.  You know the value in this, Aria.  Even a single pebble can change the course of..."_

_"Spare me your bullshit poetry, Sha'ira.  I don't have time for it and I don't care.  My daughter..."  She stopped short as grief stabbed her in the chest.  She took a deep breath, willing herself to mold her pain into anger.  "My daughter will be avenged."_

_"Your sacrifices will be honored on Thessia for..."_

_"Fuck Thessia too!  Fuck the matriarchs and their blindness and their politics!  Fuck the Council and their superiority and their elitism!  They can all burn too.  I'll piss on their ashes when the Reapers vaporize them all."_

_She had run out of energy.  Run out of anger.  Run out of fight.  She stopped and looked out of the vast glass wall.  She had been here so many times and yet she had never looked at the view.  There was always something to be said, something to be done.  Something more important.  The city below her twinkled in the setting sun.  Sky cars in flashy colors whipped by at three different levels.  It really was a beautiful sight.  It made Aria feel empty and even more alone._  

_"Why am I doing this, Sha'ira?"_

_The consort's heart broke for the hopelessness in the voice, "Because it is the right thing to do even though it is hard.  You will be remembered as a hero one day, Aria."_

_Aria snorted in disbelief and shook her head, "No one will remember me, Sha'ira.  No one knows me but you."_

_"And I will spread your song."_

_"No."  Aria turned and looked at her with eyes as deep and still as the Sea of Alune.   "You will not tell anyone what I have done.  What we have done.  They don't need to know.  Let them remember the Pirate Queen of Omega.  Let them remember me as strong and proud and ruthless."_

_Sha'ira moved to stand beside her.  They looked out together on the scene, neither one seeing it.  Sha'ira said, "That is not you Aria.  You are strong and proud and ruthless, but to know the words without the reason behind it is to deny the best parts of you."_

_Aria turned and walked out the door.  As she left the apartment, she said, "There are no good parts of me."_

 

_****_

 

Tevos was awake and looking at her.  Her mind was a blank still.  She found she could not form a plan.  She had always worked best on improvisation, and, as the door hissed open and Lidanya walked back in, she knew she would have to rely on it again.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Lidanya walked into the room with a new confidence in her step.  She had been edgy and strung tight since bringing the two prisoners on board.  To see her actually at ease instead of faking it was not a good sign.  She carried a metal chair identical to the one Aria sat in.  She careful placed it in front of Aria.  When she sat their knees were almost touching.

"I believe, Aria, that it is time to see what you can tell me."

Biotics flared around the soldiers hands, and she spread her fingers wide.  A field of crackling blue wrapped itself around Aria's shoulders and neck.  The sensitive skin of her chest tingled as the energy moved in waves around her.  Her shoulders ached from being bound for so long, pinned at an awkward angle.  The biotics around them soothed the muscles there.  Then Lidanya's outstretched fingers flexed and Aria screamed.

The energy seeping into her body seemed to be pulsing outward at her joints and in her bones.  Her arms pushed out from her shoulder socket and stretched her muscles and tendons until they felt like they would crack under the pressure.  Her collarbone pulled away from itself, the force threatening to snap it like a wishbone.  Her elbows and wrists and every knuckle in every finger were simultaneously expanded beyond endurance.  The pain was beyond anything she had felt before.  Then it got worse.  Slowly.  Ever so slowly the heat built in the core of her bones.  As if the marrow were boiling.  Great hot streaks of searing pain ran the length of her arms and fingers.

And with a flash it was gone.  Aria's screams echoed in the metal room, continuing from the memory of the pain after it had gone.  Her voice eventually gave out and she panted with exertion.  She looked at Lidanya, and the sadistic grin swam before her.  The asari leaned towards her.  Her nostrils flared as though she was trying to smell the agony radiating from Aria.

"I've gotten a little upgrade, as you can see.  What you think of as biotic power is like a mote of dust compared to the vast desert of my skills."

Aria's eyes widened with shock.  It was true.  What she had just done was too precise, too exacting an action even for the most skilled biotic.  

"Are you ready to talk?"

Aria's eyes slid past the face inches from her to lock on Tevos.  She seemed beyond fear.  From her point of view, there was a biotic field around Aria and she screamed in pain.  She had no idea what had happened inside Aria's body.  Had she known, the fear would have been far more intense.  Her spine was rigid in her chair, her hands folded in her lap, but the knuckles were white. 

Aria's voice cracked and she had to clear her throat before she spoke, "Why do you want to know about the colony?  What's going on here, Lidanya?  Who taught you to do that?"

Tevos was suddenly unable to bear her ignorance, "What is this colony the two of you are talking about?" 

Lidanya leaned toward Aria, speaking as if they were conspirators, "Shall I tell her, Aria?"

"Go fuck yourself."

Lidanya stood and slapped Aria on the back of her shoulder hard.  The ache from being bound and the pain from the biotic attack redoubled and Aria hissed.  Lidanya walked around to her other side and leaned her weight on the other shoulder. 

Aria gritted her teeth and Lidanya spoke, "Aria saw the threat of the Reapers even when you and the rest of the Council refused to listen to Commander Shepard.  She proposed a plan to the matriarchs of how to ensure the continuation of the asari race.  A colony.  A secret colony full of some of the best and brightest minds Thessia had to offer.  Artists.  Poets.  Historians.  Philosophers.  Dr. T'soni was shortlisted, but she would have refused to leave the _Normandy_."

Lidanya released Aria's shoulder.  Tevos saw that sweat had sprung up on her forehead, dotting the purple skin.  Lidanya paced and continued, "They kept the plans and the location secret to hide them from the Reapers and the Collectors and the slavers.  Aria and three or four matriarchs are the only ones who know its location.  She never met them, so she could not betray their identities."

"That's impossible," Tevos said with self-righteous indignation.  "Why would they keep this from me?"

"Because you were the reason the colony was needed in the first place!  You and the Council.  Too stubborn to believe Saren could betray you.  Too frightened to admit there was a new enemy to be fought."

Tevos blushed and looked at her hands.  She was determined to find some way out, however, so she said, "The Council.  They won't accept my disappearance for long, Lidanya.  Or Aria.  We both have powerful friends.  You can't keep us here."

"Ah, but you haven't disappeared, Councilor.  I sent a message to your colleagues just after you were brought aboard that your presence was needed for an emergency meeting of asari High Command.  I was bringing you on the _Destiny Ascension_ to the rendezvous as we are the fastest, safest ship in the fleet.  You are exactly where you are supposed to be.  Aria's friends will no doubt think she has gone off on some fool's errand."  She moved behind Aria and stroked menacing fingers through her crest.  "The down side of being a spy.  One must be secretive about one's movements.  Her minions won't look for her for some time."

The councilor searched desperately for a thread to grasp, "Shepard..."

"Is finishing her shore leave.  The _Normandy_ is done retrofitting and she is celebrating their impending assault on Cerberus with a party.  You should see how many credits she spent on alcohol."  She scratched her nails on the purple crest, causing Aria to flinch.  "Shocking.  I'm afraid the only asari on her mind right now is the one whose thighs her face is currently buried between."

Tevos's face fell.  Lidanya wrenched Aria's head back so she could look into her eyes, "No, my dear, I'm afraid you're all mine for as long as I want you."

Lidanya sat back down and crossed her legs, one ankle settling on the other knee.  The tight fabric of her uniform pants bunched around the prominent muscles in her calves, "Now, to answer your question. I want to know about the colony so that I can save the asari people, Aria."

"Keeping the colony secret is how we are doing that."

Lidanya dropped her leg back to the floor and sat forward.  Her eyes were full of a wild intensity, "No!  No, if they are secret, then they cannot ascend!  Don't you see?  Look at the power I have now!  We could all have that power.  We could rule the galaxy as the protheans intended us to.  I have seen what we can become, and it is beautiful!"

Aria's mind filled with the shrieking cries of the abominations that the galaxy had started to call banshees.  The graceful curves of her people stretched thin like dried twigs.  The shimmering blue and purple and teal turned gray as ash.  Towering beasts with no mind and no purpose but to kill.  Who could possibly want their race to be twisted like that?  A word formed unbidden in her mind.  Indoctrinated.  But how?

"Where did you see them, Lidanya?"

The woman rose to her feet and paced the room, her excitement palpable.  She was manic, like a human missionary who had once landed on Omega and babbled about a man on a cross until he had collapsed with exhaustion, "My sister is one of the blessed.  One of those who has already ascended.  She lived at a monastery.  A hidden monastery for... She is Ardat-Yakshi.  My mother hid her when I was became an officer in the navy.  She did not want Yanis's condition to hurt my career.  We stayed close.  I would sometimes visit her secretly.  We spoke often.  I would not let them keep her from me entirely."  Her footsteps clanged as her steps became more rushed.  "The monastery was liberated by the Reapers.  I intercepted a transmission between you, Councilor, and Liara T'soni.  The _Normandy_  was busy and could not respond immediately.  I took my personal shuttle.  They were there.  They spoke to me.  They showed me what our people would become if only I could help them.  Help them rise. I saw what Yanis had become and my heart soared for her!  They sent me back here to wait and to listen.  I was able to hear more.  To see more with the gifts they gave me.  I could see that Sha'ira was more than she pretended.  She spoke often with the High Command before Thessia fell.  They told me to talk to her.  I told them about the colony I had seen in her mind.  She cried when I found it."

Aria barked and struggled at her bindings.  The look on Lidanya's face was honest confusion, "It was wise of you to hide from her the location of the colony.  I thought, at first, that she was lying to me.  That she was trying to hide it.  But then I saw the many conversations the two of you had about keeping the information restricted to you and a few matriarchs.  It was clever.  She is a weak vessel."  Lidanya sat back down, leaning forward.  "But you are not.  Tell me where the colony is, Aria."

"You should kill me, Lidanya."

Tevos shrieked and cried, "No!"

"You should.  I won't say a word.  You disgust me.  You are betraying a proud people.  You are scum."

Lidanya's eyes flashed with anger as her hands flared with biotics.  Aria's knees were being ripped apart.  Her ankles.  Her toes.  Her hips creaked under the strain.  She screamed with all of her might and her legs were full of lava.  It built and built and built.  Just when she thought there was no worse pain that could be endured, it got worse.  Tevos called for help but none came.  Aria was alone on an island of agony.  Lidanya bent her for so long that white spots appeared in front of her closed eyes and her body began to convulse.  She heard the chains rattling and her limbs shook uncontrollably.  It was gone so fast that the cessation of the pain was almost as bad as the pain itself.  She hung loosely against her bindings for a long time before looking up, sweat dripping from her quivering face.

"You would let a pile of smoking corpses be all that is left of our proud people, Aria T'loak?  What use is there in death when we can be strong and beautiful and feared?"

"Who..." Aria's voice was so weak that Lidanya leaned forward, their faces nearly touching to hear.  "Who spoke to you?"

"Sovereign."

Aria's brain must have been losing its grip.  She shook her head to clear it.  Sovereign had been dead for three years.

"Well, not Sovereign exactly. Through Sovereign. They speak as one voice. It started years ago. We survived the Battle of the Citadel by a whisper.  We limped back into dock and I took a team to the Presidium to help clear the enemy.  There was no enemy left.  Shepard and her whore and that marine of hers had destroyed them all.  But there were pieces.  A huge metal finger stuck in the marble near the lake.  I went to it.  There was a cube of glowing red light inside.  I reached in and picked it up.  The lights faded, but it had been beautiful.  I kept it hidden as a trophy of our victory.  It was just a metal cube until they came back.  The lights glowed again and it was lovely.  I took it with me to save my sister.  I don't know what compelled me to grab it, but thank the Goddess I did.  It began to speak to me.  It whispered in my ear the closer I got to them.  It showed me things."

Aria thought she might be sick.  Every muscle in her body ached and her stomach churned.  She still leaned against the chains, even though the strain on her shoulders was unbearable.  She listened only because she didn't have the strength to block her out.

"It can show you things, too, Aria.  It can help you to see the truth.  See what our future holds.  It will speak to the Councilor, too.  I should have enlightened her already, but I hoped to gain you first.  Now I think you have no right to ascend.  You should be left behind to die."  She growled in frustration.  "Tell me where the colony is!"

"No."

"You will die if you do not!  I can find it on my own!"

"No."

With a flash of blue light, Aria's ribs began to separate and pull away from her spine.  Instead of curling around her heart and lungs, they began to furl outwards, pressing on the skin and then the fabric covering her chest.  Her legs began to go numb as her spine compressed.  The taste of bile shot into her throat.  Her lungs were on fire.  Her heart began to lose its rhythm.  Her organs were cooking inside her and she would burst from the inside.  There was no more air in her lungs to scream. 

Tevos saw the leather of Aria's white jacket swell of its own accord.  The outlines of her ribs pressed against the fabric of her vest.  With a hideous clarity she finally understood the torture the criminal mastermind was being put to.  Her screams replaced the ones Aria could not give voice to.  Lidanya's laugh was louder even than that.

 

******

 

_To celebrate her thirty years as asari ambassador, Tevos reluctantly held a lavish party at a hotel near the embassies.  It was a place that reeked of excess and Tevos hated it.  The waitstaff was used to corporate executives tipping them lavishly and the slime of corruption nearly dripped off of them.  The banquet hall was three stories of velvet and crystal and gilded staircases.  The woman of the hour stood on the landing of the top floor and looked with disgust at the assembled crowd.  The cost of this party could have paid for water purifiers on at least two colonies.  An asari who had clearly had her skin dyed to the rarest teal shade wore enough diamonds to fund Tevos's indigent veteran home project.  It was a chance to help the downtrodden of all races and it was a pet project she had been pushing for twenty years.  She was always told the credits were not available.  Then she attended one of these functions and stewed._

_"You look like you could use a friend for the evening, Councilor."_

_She turned and nearly gasped at the sight.  Aria's voice was like honey, and the sight of her, as always, was a thrill.  She allowed herself ten or twelve seconds to enjoy the view before turning her back again, "Not from the likes of you, Aria T'loak."_

_"Hmm... you know my name.  How gratifying."_

_Tevos cursed herself for the slip, but recovered.  She was leaning on the railing of the staircase, her fingers wrapped around her third glass of honey wine, "Your reputation precedes you.  Which makes me wonder how you got into my party.  I don't recall inviting any criminals."_

_Aria moved closer, "I have a very influential friend."_

_Tevos’s breathing grew shallow as Aria’s body got closer. Close enough to smell the earthiness on her breath with hints of pepper. Tevos swallowed and said, "Well, perhaps you should rejoin that friend."_

_Aria leaned casually on the railing, ice tinkling in her glass, a twinkle in her eye. Despite her confidence and her grace, her movements were just a hint imprecise. Tevos wondered how many of those drinks she had consumed. Her words did not slur, however, when she said, "I just wanted to congratulate you, Councilor.  No need to be rude.  Besides, I am quite capable of keeping more than one... friend happy."_

_The tone was suggestive and a flush of anger spread over her face.  She stood upright and turned to face the lounging asari, "You are a criminal.  A drug dealer.  A killer.  Probably a slaver.  The idea that I would lower myself to..."_

_"So you've thought about lowering yourself, eh?  I had a little something else in mind.  You see..."_

_Tevos flushed again and turned on her heel, descending the stairs to the sound of Aria's low chuckle.  She burst through the doors of the ladies powder room growling, "Of all the insufferable, arrogant..."_

_She stopped short when she saw the shimmering pearl dress covering lightest blue skin.  The Consort was smiling indulgently, looking at her but holding the hand of an exceptionally thin human woman as they sat on a velvet chaise in front of a vanity._

_"Oh, Sha'ira.  Forgive me, I didn't see you there."_

_"Not at all, Councilor Tevos.  I believe it is I who owe you an apology.  I take it you have met my 'plus one'."_

_Tevos nodded and Sha'ira gave a gentle look to the human.  She had the distinct air of disappointment, but excused herself and left the room.  Sha'ira indicated the vacated spot with a graceful motion of her hand.  Tevos was not in the mood to chat, but she felt it would be unnecessarily rude to refuse.  She sat and sipped her wine through pursed lips._

_"You must forgive Aria.  She is... very confident."_

_Tevos sometimes wished that she could back down from a fight.  All she had to do was nod, sit for a moment, and then excuse herself.  Instead, she slapped her knee in anger, "How can you associate with her?  She is... She is..."_

_"She is quite special."_

_"I was going to say unbearable.  Crass.  And worst of all, she is despicable, Consort."_

_There was an edge to the consort's voice when she responded, "Aria is a woman of great honor.  She simply... expresses it differently than you or I might.  You may come to hold in as high an esteem as I do one day."_

_Tevos snorted into her wineglass, "I doubt that very much."_    

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: there is a brief scene in this chapter that hints at attempted rape. While the act is not carried out, it is somewhat graphic, so I'm putting a trigger warning out there.

As she left the room, Lidanya dropped a tube of medigel into Tevos’s lap. She said, “I’ll be back soon. See if she’s still alive.”

The Councilor’s heart was in her throat. She knew Aria was alive. The rhythm of her breathing seemed to show that she was even conscious. The question remained for how long. It amazed Tevos that she had lived through the abuse this long. How much longer could a person survive this kind of punishment?

After a thoughtful moment she got up and crossed to Aria. She knelt at the woman’s feet, pulling the long skirt of her dress up so she could move more easily. The older wounds on her face were not bleeding, but they all looked swollen and painful. The skin stretching uncomfortably and split in a dozen places. She cracked the top off the medigel and squeezed a sizable amount onto her fingers. She had no doubt that she would use the whole thing eventually. She reached her fingers out and smeared a thick stripe onto the cut in her bottom lip. She watched as the skin knitted and shrank. The cut closing and the swelling retracting with surprising speed. Aria made a soft sound that could have been pleasure or pain. Tevos’s heart ached at the noise.

She loaded her fingertips again and reached for the regal nose. The purple eyelids flickered as she touched the healing salve to the tortured skin. Eyes as blue as a clear sky flashed, following her movements. She looked into those eyes and felt as though she were losing her moorings. The depth of them. She looked and looked again, trying to lose herself in them. They seemed to swim with intensity, and she had to look away. She focused on squeezing out more medigel, and when she looked up again the eyes were still there. Still a devastating shade of blue. Still fixed on hers.

Her voice was thin when she said, “Aria…”

“Don’t.”

“Please. Please tell her what she wants to know.”

“I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“It’s just one colony, Aria. The asari people will survive.”

“I can’t.”

“She’ll kill you.”

“Then I’ll die. I would rather die than let her destroy our people.”

Tevos brought her clenched fist down hard on Aria’s knee, “No, you can’t. It’s not worth it.”

Aria shook her head sadly, “You haven’t seen them, have you? You haven’t seen what the Reapers turn us in to. If you had, you wouldn’t think it was worth it.”

Tevos dropped the medigel and gripped Aria’s thighs with both hands like steel, “There’s no hope, Aria. We can’t get out of here.”

Aria set her mouth and said with renewed determination, “You can. You will. If you do exactly what I say.”

“I don’t understand. How can you get out of the chair?”

“I said _you_ will get out. Listen closely…”

“What? No!”

“Councilor…”

“Stop it! I can’t go and just leave you here!”

The ferocity in Aria’s eyes when she responded made Tevos start back, “You will do what I say! You think I am going to go through all of this just to watch you die? I’ve worked too hard to keep you alive for that. Now shut up and listen to me.”

Tevos sat back on her heels and was quiet.

“Good girl. Now, when she comes back in here, I am going to piss her off. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I seem to be quite good at that. While she is distracted with me, you slip out the door. She hasn’t locked it once in the times she’s come in here, so she shouldn’t this time either. I haven’t seen any guards in the hall. I think this may be a solo mission for our dear captain.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

Aria glared, “That will be the only time you question me, understand?” After a pause, she said. “If I’m wrong, you’ll have to use biotics.”

This was the moment Tevos was dreading, when everything fell apart. While all asari were born with the ability to harness biotic power, that ability had to be taught. Honed. Perfected. Without the proper training, biotics were likely to either kill you or completely fail you. There was a very small contingent of asari who chose to focus on their other attributes and did not learn to use their biotic abilities when they were young. They were called ‘abstainers’ and they were generally accepted but pitied by the asari people. Tevos had decided to devote her time to studying politics and history in her youth. There was an undercurrent of pacifism in her decision as well. Now she couldn’t so much as levitate an egg.

There was the tiniest hint of shame in her voice when she said, “I’m an abstainer, Aria.”

“Yeah, I know.” She said dismissively, as if Tevos’s complete inability to defend herself wouldn’t matter on a ship where the whole crew could be hostile or indoctrinated or both. “The gas she used in the elevator. It was DS nerve gas. It kills humans, causes prolonged unconsciousness in humanoid species, and has one very important side effect. It enhances biotic amplification significantly for several days. If I didn’t have these dampers on I could tear a hole in the hull a mile wide. It should give you enough of a boost to blast a soldier or two on your way to the shuttle bay.”

Tevos’s jaw dropped, “I appreciate the confidence you have in me, but…”

“Don’t puss out on me now, Councilor.”

“I can’t do it!”

“You have to.”

Tevos hugged her knees to her chest, the fabric of her dress bunching awkwardly around her hips. Aria just looked at her in a way that clearly showed she would win this argument, no matter what, “What will happen to you?”

Aria turned her head away, checking the door, “I’ll keep her busy as long as I can. Until… until you get away.”

“Or until she kills you.”

She nodded and said nothing.

“Why? Why would you do that for me?”

Aria turned her head back slowly and looked into Tevos’s eyes. She held the asari’s gaze. She was beyond arguing. Beyond fighting. Beyond hiding. She was raw. Exposed as she had not allowed herself to be possibly in her whole life, “Because I love you.”

 

******

_Aria worried her chin as she walked. The skin in the center of her bottom lip and, intermittently, her chin had been tingling for the last day. She had earned many markings, her face traced with delicate curls at both temples and half circles connecting her brow ridges. This, however, was different. The marking would no doubt be larger. The skin burned and pulsed with an intensity that none of her other markings had caused. When her lower lip began to darken, it was in the bold, wide stroke she had always longed for._

_The fact that she would soon have the type of line she had dreamt of for decades had both excited and intrigued her. The dizziness had come when she dispatched a large merc gang who had threatened to assassinate the new asari councilor upon her arrival at the Citadel. She had enjoyed the fight, but she had been in many like it. Nothing had felt special about any of the kills. The itching of her lip, she guessed, was connected not with those she killed, but with the one she saved. The thought had kept her from sleeping last night. She sat in the pilot seat of her private shuttle and pondered who this councilor might be. Only those asari who lived on Thessia and a select few colony officials had the right to vote for the new councilor, so Aria had not paid much attention to the campaign. All she knew was that the one chosen had won by election by the widest margin in several millennia. She flew all night long to get back from the merc’s base to the Citadel so that she could see this woman. It seemed the right move. The itch moved from her lip to her chin. The marking had grown in response to her actions._

_She landed and went to Sha’ira’s chambers before the holographic sun had risen. The rich and their ridiculous notions. Imagine spending that many credits just to give the wealthy and powerful the illusion of being on a planet rather than the heart of galactic life. She went into the consort’s greeting room and lounged on the couch until the asari woke. It was the Festival of Janiris and she smiled as she placed a wreath of flowers on Aria’s head and kissed her cheek. She had noticed the new mark forming and they spent a long time discussing it._

_“Would you like to see her then?”_

_Aria did not want to seem too eager, but she had flown all the way here for that purpose. She shrugged elaborately and the consort called for an assistant to locate the councilor. They were in luck. She was celebrating this festival with acts of charity, as some more influential asari sometimes did. Usually this meant they would invite middle class friends to parties at their homes and send them home with lavish gifts. They would spend time with those only slightly below their station, but be rewarded in the press for being altruistic._

_The new councilor, however, was taking the idea truly to heart. Aria and Sha’ira travelled to an area of the Lower Wards that not even the dancers at Chora’s Den would be caught dead in. There was trash littering the streets, and they passed a human prostitute giving a krogan a blow job down an alley. They missed her at a quarian soup kitchen, where she delivered supplies that would feed the wanderers for months. Not just protein paste either. They saw actual dextro cheese in one box. The volunteers who ran the overcrowded little shelter were crying and hugging each other._

_They turned a corner and Aria stopped so abruptly she nearly fell. Halfway down the street was an orphanage. Harassed looking asari embassy aides were lugging boxes from an overburdened cart to the door of the ramshackle building. Children of at least three species were running around laughing, necklaces of flowers swinging to their knees. An asari girl who could not have been ten years old stood shyly off to one side. She held a doll made of knotted rags, and she had three dirty fingers shoved in her mouth. Her eyes were wide as saucers._

_An asari with light blue skin and a positive parade of jagged white markings on her face knelt in front of the girl. She wore a long, flowing dress in the traditional shades of yellow and orange. As she lowered herself to the child’s level, the fabric rippled around her like waves caught in a strong wind. She smiled with an honesty that was completely foreign to this station. Warmth flooded from her eyes and her toothy grin. Her presence calmed the little one who giggled wetly around her fingers. The woman held a crown of laced daisies and cornflowers, and she leaned forward and placed it lightly on the little asari’s head. The girl giggled again and touched the flowers. The feel of something fresh and beautiful was obviously new to her. The little fingers left smudges on the petals. The older woman held out her arms and the child threw herself into the hug without reservation._

_Aria’s heart exploded into a thousand burning sparks. She had trouble catching her breath. Her eyes filled with tears._

_“Aria, are you alright?”_

_Her voice sounded as though it came from very far off, “Who… who is that?”_

_Sha’ira gave her a quizzical look, “That is the councilor. Gabrielle Tevos. Have you never seen her before?”_

_Aria could only shake her head. She reached out a hand and found the cool metal of the building beside her. The chill of the metal against the heat of her palm was jarring. Her head swam. She flexed her fingers against the solidity of the wall.  She leaned against it. She had been an instant from falling._

_Aria was a practical asari. She had taken hundreds of lovers from almost every species to her bed. She had felt pleasure and called it love with Ellana, knowing it was a lie, but allowing the deception all the same. She knew she had never truly felt love for anyone other than her parents. She thought herself incapable of romantic love. The concept of love at first sight was for poets and fools. Love barely existed in the galaxy at all, let alone love without having met. There was sex and there was friendship and there was family, but true love required all of those to exist simultaneously in one individual. The chances were astronomical. The idea ludicrous._

_Yet there was no doubt. She was in love with Gabrielle Tevos. She would do anything for the woman. She would live for her. She would devote herself to her. She would die for her._

_“Would you like to meet her?”_

_“No!”_

_Sha’ira looked shocked at the vehemence of the denial, “I thought you wanted to…”_

_“I don’t. Let’s go.”_

_She turned and retreated back towards the slums they had walked through. The slums she could relate to. The slums that felt like comfort. She belonged here. With the filth and the drugs and the death. This was her world. Not the soft fabric and the delicate shades of blue. It was one thing to devote one’s self to a woman like Tevos, quite another to torture herself with a meeting. They lived in different worlds. Aria lived in the shadows, and it was from the shadows she would protect the councilor. And she had. For forty years she had watched and loved her from the shadows. Her devotion had not wavered. She had lived for Tevos for forty years, and now she would die for her._

*****

 

Tevos knelt in front of Aria as she spoke. She kept herself perfectly still and silent until the asari had run out of words and had stopped. As abruptly as she had started, she stilled. She acted as if it was in any way acceptable to declare your undying love and your intention to die in the same breath and then say nothing more. The moment stretched and bended. The silence of the tiny room in the massive warship was absolute.

Tevos stood, her legs weak from kneeling for so long. She pulled her dress higher on her hips until her knees were freed from the clinging fabric and she could move. She slipped her legs around Aria’s hips and sat, straddling her warm, leather clad lap. She reached out her hands on either side of the now healed face and stretched her fingers until they covered Aria’s head from the base of her jaw to her temples. Her thumbs pressed lightly into her cheekbones. She lightly pressed up on Aria’s jaw, tilting her head back. Aria allowed her head to be shifted, and those startlingly blue eyes locked onto Tevos’s with a hunger that took the Councilor’s breath away.

She lowered her lips slowly. The two bottom lips met. The markings there were identical in size and shape, only differing in color. Dark brushed against light. The heat of Aria’s breath on her mouth was mesmerizing. Intoxicating. It gripped her and drove her wild with desire. She pulled on Aria’s face, her fingertips digging into the purple flesh. She slammed their lips together in a crushing kiss. Tevos moaned into it, her stomach lurching and her body electrifying. She pressed her tongue against Aria’s lips and they flew apart, allowing her immediate access. She urged forward with mouth and lips and hips. She ground her pelvis forward subconsciously as the kiss deepened. Her fingers slid into the folds of Aria’s neck, slipping between the crevasses in her neck folds. She massaged at the sensitive skin there and Aria’s chains rattled as she tried to wrap her arms around Tevos, but was thwarted by the bindings.

Aria whimpered and Tevos kissed harder, their tongues clashing desperately. The councilor could feel heat throbbing in her core and she knew she should stop. Soon her need would make her forget herself, had perhaps already allowed her to go too far. Her mind insisted she end the kiss, pull back from the passionate embrace, but the logic of it was drowned by the singing of her flesh. Desire blossomed in her and her hand slipped from Aria’s face to slide down her neck. Aria groaned and shivered at the fingertips on her throat. Tevos finally broke off the kiss, pulling away but sucking gently on the nearly black line on Aria’s lower lip. The marking she had earned for saving her life the first time. The marking that had grown down her chin to her throat when Aria had seen her and fallen in love.

She opened her eyes, expecting to see lust hooding the blue eyes in front of hers. Instead, they were painted in fear.

Cold fingers wrapped around her throat, gripping hard enough to cut off the air from reaching her lungs. Aria’s fearful look turned murderous and she growled in rage. Then the eyes were gone. The face was gone. The feel of Aria’s leather pants under her were gone and she was flying across the room. She threw up her arms instinctively, but it was a poor choice. The edge of the leather chair she had been sitting in caught her just below the armpit. A pain erupted in the side of her breast, and her ribs slammed into her lungs. She coughed and screamed in one, and the sound was choked. Her forehead slammed into the seat of the chair and stars exploded in front of her eyes.

“Looks like I’ve found a weakness in you at last, Aria T’loak.”

Tevos didn’t know who was screaming with frustrated anger. It couldn’t be her, she couldn’t breathe. Her lungs had collapsed and crushed her heart. She was still reeling from it when Lidanya grabbed her shoulder and shoved her roughly around to face her. The hand went back to her throat, and she was forced back against the chair. She was being bent painfully at an impossible angle.

“Keep screaming, Aria. No one will come to help. You are going to watch everything I do to her for as long as I want to make you.”

The hand on her throat was squeezing harder. Her temple pulsed as the blood that could not escape built pressure against her skin. She sputtered and coughed and tried to beg for help. Lidanya’s other hand gripped hard around her wrist and yanked her arm painfully above her head. A presence was trying to force its way into her mind. She fought it with all her will, but the pain of her body was making it hard for her to focus on her mental barriers. It had been an embarrassingly long time since she had melded with anyone, but she knew that this pounding against her mind was not how it was supposed to be. She thought of what Lidanya had done to Sha’ira’s mind, and she wondered whether the soldier would succeed in savaging her mind or her body first.

 

*****

 

Aria felt as if she had entered some sort of perfect nightmare. She had been in the heights of ecstasy. Four decades worth of hopeless fantasies were suddenly coming true. Tevos’s body was on hers. They were kissing and Aria had never dreamed that a kiss could be so divine. Then she had opened her eyes and the smug, violent face of Matriarch Lidanya was inches away. Everything that she had striven to keep hidden from her capturer had been hellishly displayed before her. Now she was trapped in this chair, about to watch this evil creature defile the most beautiful thing the universe had ever created.

She screamed with impotent fury. The force of her rage pushed her body forward, and the flimsy metal chair creaked beneath her. Even through her panic she heard the sound and analyzed it. Lidanya bent over Tevos, a hand now on her slim wrist. Aria screamed and pushed against her bounds again. This time she felt the creak as well as hearing it. She knew what it meant. The frame of the chair was as fragile as she supposed, but she did not have the luxury of time to work on that weakness. Tevos’s arm was being wrenched above her head, and Goddess knew what would come next.

Aria had to act. Her plan was thin. It would crumple in an instant with the slightest wrong touch. It was her only hope, but if she miscalculated in the slightest she would fail. Most likely she would break both her legs. Even success would most likely break one of them. She could end up helplessly flailing on the floor while Lidanya did whatever she pleased. Tevos was writhing in Lidanya’s grip, she whipped her head back and forth. Lidanya’s grip on her throat slackened enough so that she could be understood shouting, “No! No! No!”

Aria’s mind went black and she hurled herself upward. There was just enough slack in the chains around her ankles for her to propel herself off the floor. Her rage gave her strength she certainly would not have without it. She pushed back with her hips as she broke contact with the metal floor and the chair tipped forward. She had been in the air only a second, but when she came back down it was at a different angle. The front edge of the hollow squares that formed the front chair legs hit first. She directed the full force of her body weight down on that edge. Her feet were bent into a terribly painful angle, but only for a moment. The weight of her body snapped the brittle weld of the legs to the chair seat. The connection gave way and the legs broke off. She was able to right her feet just in time to remain standing. Had she fallen to the floor, everything would be lost.

Though she could now stand on her own feet and straighten her legs, her back bent perpendicular to the floor. The structure of the seat was intact, but she channeled all of her rage and frustration into the lithe muscles of her body. She gritted her teeth through the pain and forced her back straight. The connection of seat to back rest was far more solid than the legs. It did not break, but it bent. It bent a few degrees and that was enough.

Tevos’s screams had covered the sounds Aria was making, and so the struggle across the room continued. The whipping of the Councilor’s head was slackening. She was losing her struggle against the Reaper-enhanced abilities of the captain. Lidanya’s hands were not idle. One still pinned Tevos’s arm above her head at a punishing angle, but the other was now grasping at the hem of her dress. She had hiked up the fabric to straddle Aria, and now there was little distance for Lidanya to travel before it would be above the woman’s hips. Already the faintest strip of black underwear showed.

Aria roared and propelled herself forward. The sound finally alerted Lidanya that something was wrong. She turned and saw Aria running awkwardly toward her, the remnants of the chair still chained to her limbs. She stood and swiveled to meet the attack, but too late. Aria barreled into her with a grunt and they went tumbling over the chair. Aria howled in agony as her limbs contorted. The fall shattered the remaining form of the chair, but the pain of its dissolution was intense. Lidanya’s fall had been painful, but not debilitating.

She stood, a demonic gleam in her eye as she towered over Aria’s helpless form. Her hand reached behind her, into the band of her uniform pants. She pulled Aria’s own pistol out and aimed it at the Pirate Queen’s head. Aria looked up into the barrel of the gun. Two hundred years lived and a lifetime of quiet triumphs. The truth of her inability to save the woman she loved tasted bitter on her tongue. She did not close her eyes as Lidanya’s finger moved to the trigger. She had lived on her feet, and she would go to the Goddess with her eyes wide open.

That was when Lidanya’s body exploded in a flash of blue and black flame.

  

 


	8. Chapter 8

A concussive wave hit Aria. She was solidly on the ground, so the force of it shoved her across the smooth metal a few inches. Her head snapped back and smacked into the wasted frame of the chair. Compared to what her body had been through since waking from the gas attack it was as nothing, but her head spun for the briefest moment.

There was a ground shaking thunk as the lifeless, charred body of Matriarch Lidanya landed directly in front of her. Smoke curled sickeningly from the blistered skin of her face. Her eyes were clouded in a way that indicated they had been partially cooked by the heat of the blast. The smell of burning flesh hit Aria with enough force to cause her to dry heave. She angled her hips and kicked out at the corpse, succeeding in pushing her own body far enough away to see and smell less of it.

Her voice was hoarse and cracking as she called out, “Brielle?”

There was a sob from across the room, and then the sound of running feet. Tevos landed on her knees in front of Aria, now fully blocking the view of her dead torturer. Tears were raining down her cheeks as she tried to turn Aria to look at her. The biotics still crackled on her hands and they burned Aria’s skin. The feeling was like being hit with a Pull that had been mostly blocked. It stung but would not do damage. Aria hissed at the burn and Tevos drew her hands away quickly.

“Aria! Aria, are you alright?”

She let her body relax back into the floor, trying to take the pressure off of the sore muscles of her shoulders. Unfortunately, as her hands were still bound behind her to the remnants of the flimsy chair, sharp pains cut through her. She blinked slowly and gritted her teeth, “Never better.”

Tevos shook her hands frantically, but the blue flames continued to swirl and crackle. Her breathing quickened and the intensity of the biotics flared. She was nearly shouting when she said, “Aria! Please… it won’t stop! How do I make it go away? It’s starting to burn!”

Aria sat forward, catching the gaze of those frantic eyes. She held them and said, with a forced calm, “Just relax, okay? Take a deep breath.” When the councilor seemed more likely to hyperventilate, she continued, “Hey! Look at me. Breathe with me. Nice and slow. You need to take it easy, okay? It will go away, you just have to think about something else. That will help your defenses relax and the power will bleed away.”

Tevos willed herself to breathe slowly, but she could not force her mind away from the growing heat of her hands. The knuckles on her fingers were starting to get stiff, as though they were swelling. She let out a frustrated bark, “I can’t! It won’t stop. How am I supposed to think about something else?”

Aria smiled and said, “Tell me about your father. He was salarian, right? Was he a scientist?”

Tevos rolled her eyes, “That is such a stereotype! Not all salarians are scientists. Just like not all of us are exotic dancers or escorts.”

“It’s not that people think we’re _all_ dancers or escorts. We’re just the _best_ dancers and escorts.”

“Also a gross generalization.”

“Don’t tell anyone that. The misconception is what pays the bills at Afterlife.” She smirked and risked a glance at Tevos’s hands. The blue was starting to dim, the flames flickering. “So what did he do, then?”

Tevos smiled and her eyes misted over a bit, “He was an artist. Sculpture mostly. He made these beautiful flowing forms. Sometimes abstract, but he had the most incredible eye for bodies. He carved some of the statuary in the Council Chamber, actually. And he did an amazing reclining statue of my mother. It’s in our family home on Thessia. I hope it survives the invasion. He was so gifted.”

Aria saw that the biotic flames had completely disappeared from Tevos’s hands. She hadn’t noticed, thinking of her father and his work. Aria let her continue, “He died when I was very young, of course. He lived to fifty-four years old. I was just twenty when we lost him. Mother was devastated. She never had another partner. Imagine having so little time with someone and loving them so very much.”

Her voice trailed off and it was a long time before she looked down at her hands. She flexed her fingers and winced slightly, “How did you know I could do that?”

Aria shrugged as best she could and responded, “I didn’t doubt you for a moment.”

Tevos looked into her eyes and found a gentleness that she had never thought to see there. It was only there for a moment. Only long enough to prove that, despite lack of use, Aria’s good nature was certainly intact. Her heart ached with affection and her gut burned with a desire that not even their current circumstances could cool. She was embarrassed that all of this trauma could not push from her the lust she had long felt for Aria. In fact, that desire seemed to have only increased after the fight.

She saw a wisp of blackness streak across the whites of Aria’s eyes and knew the asari was feeling the same struggle she was. She leaned down, her newly safe hands going to the lapels of Aria’s cropped white leather jacket. She pulled on the fabric, slamming their lips together. Aria struggled to sit up, trying to find some area of contact between their bodies. Her lips parted and she thrust her tongue into Tevos’s willing mouth. The kiss of deep, promising more with each swipe of a tongue. Heat flared in both of them. Tevos was trying to maneuver her body closer to Aria’s, trying to find a way to increase the contact she craved without causing pain or discomfort. Frustration built in her and she was about to break the kiss to find some way to get the other out of her bindings when there was a pounding on the door.

Aria’s body was instantly tense and alert. The hope that had bloomed in her chest when Lidanya died was suddenly a cancer, the weight of it oppressive on her lungs. She pulled away from the kiss and searched for some means to defend them. Unfortunately, she was still bound, biotic dampers still on her hands. Tevos was frozen in fear as voices from outside the room shouted, the sounds muffled slightly by the thickness of the walls. Aria tried to struggle to her knees, but Tevos was still kneeling beside her, their bodies too close for her to stand.

The door finally slid open and admitted at least a dozen armed asari soldiers. One still hand her omnitool raised from hacking the door lock, the others scanned the room, their assault rifles ready, fingers on triggers. A tall, painfully thin asari with skin so light blue it was almost white was at the head of the group. She strode into the room with the air of authority. She looked from the still smoking corpse to the obviously battered councilor and the bleeding, broken criminal.

Her voice was as thin as her frame, squeaking and breathy like an aged mouse, “Councilor Tevos? What is going on here?”

Tevos swallowed hard and glanced at Aria. The look they shared clearly communicated fear and uncertainty. Could they trust the crew? Were they all indoctrinated? And how would they react to the two of them having killed their captain? “Commander L’silda. I was hoping you could tell us.”

The commander’s ice blue eye shot to Aria and then back to the councilor. She was silent for a long moment, weighing her words, “Matriarch Lidanya told us you came aboard two nights ago and ordered us to set course for the Silean Nebula. She said it was a top secret mission for the Council and that you were not to be disturbed.” She broke off to signal to one of the soldiers, and she dropped her weapon to examine the captain. “However, when it was meal time yesterday morning, an aide took a tray to your room. We had been under the impression that you were meeting with the captain there. The room was empty. When the captain came back to the bridge, I asked her for further details, and her actions were strange. She was… not herself.”

The soldiers had all packed away their weapons, and a group of them were preparing to take away Lidanya’s body. The commander watched with one eye and a look of distaste while she spoke, “She left again and I set a trusted Lieutenant to follow her. After several hours of no word, I came looking and found the Lieutenant’s body in a corridor near here. Security footage showed Lidanya killing her and then entering the hallway outside this room. She barred access to the hall. I decided things were not right. You had been on board for nearly two days and no one had seen you.” Her eyes shifted to Aria, “And no one aboard was aware of your presence, Ms. T’loak. We haven’t met, but I know you by reputation. I’ll admit I’m surprised to find you are the one tied up.”

Aria’s voice was strained, “Speaking of…”

Tevos put a protective hand on her arm, “Commander, please untie Aria. She is the only reason I’m alive and she has been tortured by your captain for days.”

L’silda’s forehead crinkled with shock, and she nodded to the soldier who had hacked the door, who came over and started to break through the dampers and chains. The commander continued, “I had noticed for… some time now the strange actions of the captain. I was concerned… well, you hear things about the Reapers.”

Tevos interrupted, “She was indoctrinated. That’s why she captured us. She wanted… classified information that we were unwilling to give.”

L’silda looked sad and nodded, “I assumed. We have been trying to get into this room for some time now. I assumed she had you locked in here. There are several rooms on this ship that are… designed to be…”

Aria, her hands now free, was rubbing her wrists and scowling, “Torture chambers?”

Tevos looked scandalized, but she was hardly willing to argue the truth of the assumption.

“Interrogation rooms. Though… I can say this is probably not the first time they have been used for this purpose.” The commander had a look of disgust on her face as she said, “War often brings out the worst in people. The justifications make me sick. I serve Thessia with honor. Others find that the ends justify the means.”

All of her bonds now removed, Aria stood and stretched her legs. She rolled her neck and shoulders. Tevos stood and prepared herself to catch the stubborn asari if she moved too fast. Aria said, “Don’t be so naïve, you must be at least 500. If you haven’t seen anything to make you get your nose dirty, you haven’t been paying attention.”

The commander sniffed and said, “I am 850, and I have seen enough of the world to know that a person who was just tortured shouldn’t be so quick to defend extreme measures.” She turned her attention back to Tevos, “Councilor, allow me to apologize for the treatment of both of you on behalf of the crew of the _Destiny Ascension_. The death of Matriarch Lidanya means that I am now captain of this ship. I place it and the crew at your disposal.”

When Tevos would have spoken, Aria stepped forward and slapped the commander hard on the shoulder, “Real nice speech, Commander. We need to examine the Captain’s quarters. She had some… contraband there that needs disposing of. Then take us to the bridge. I assume you have secure communication abilities? We need access to them and some privacy.”

She strode out the door, brushing against several armed soldiers as she passed.

 

********

 

L’silda, Aria, and Tevos stood awkwardly in the quarters of the late matriarch. The room was spartan, with few personal adornments and fewer concessions to comfort. They looked around nervously as though they were expecting Lidanya to stride through the door and ask them just what the hell they thought they were doing going through her underwear drawer. It wasn’t until Tevos wrapped her thin arms around herself to try and stop her body from shaking that Aria finally decided to act.

She walked to the dresser on the wall nearest her and pulled out a drawer. It was full of identical t-shirts neatly folded and stacked. She rummaged through them for a moment, smearing dark purple blood on the stark white fabric. There was nothing in the drawer other than shirts so she slammed it shut. The noise made Tevos jump. She opened another drawer and grabbed a fistful of socks, throwing them over her shoulder and pushing the remainder aside. When she shoved this drawer, it did not shut all the way, but she left it and went to the next.

The mess and the disorganization seemed to set the commander’s teeth on edge. She moved to the desk and started to search the drawers there. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking for, but she’d be damned if she let Aria tear the room apart while she watched. Tevos wandered to a closet door and pulled it open slowly. A line of uniforms were neatly hung there. They smelled exactly like the one Lidanya had worn. Suddenly that smelled seemed to fill the small room.

The feel of cold fingers wrapped around her neck. That smell filling her nostrils as she fought for breath. A rough hand wrenching her dress up. A dark cloud pressing against her mind, trying to force her barriers apart and slip a tendril in between…

A drawer slammed behind her and Tevos jumped. Aria swore inventively. Tevos took a shaking breath and wiped beads of sweat off of her forehead. She shook herself to push the memories away, and succeeded. The fear fell back like a wave retreating back into the ocean after crashing on a sandy beach. It took her a long time to realize that the dark cloud trying to push its way into her mind was not a memory and had not gone away. It was still there, pressing at her like a physical presence. There was a whispering in the room like the rustle of dead leaves in a breeze. Like the chatter of a large group in another room at a party. It was coming closer, getting louder. Individual voices began to stick out from the crowd.

Everything was silenced by a strong hand on her shoulder. She gasped and turned to see Aria’s face close to hers and looking concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

Tevos’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She turned sharply back to the line of uniforms and whispered as though the thing might hear her and run away, “It’s in here. Somewhere in here. I can hear it whispering.”

Aria’s arm shot out and shoved the uniforms aside. The wall behind them was blank, cold metal. She frowned. Then she looked down at a row of neatly lined shoes. They were polished, reflecting vague shapes back at her. Aria knelt and pushed the shoes to one side. Nothing. She rested her forearms on her knees.

Tevos sighed, “Maybe I was wrong…”

Aria was turning to look up at her when a red glow caught her eye. Pushed to the inside corner of the closet was a packing case. Small and square, but with loose seams. The glow was coming from those seams. Aria reached for it and began to hear the whispering without recognizing what it was. The weight of the box was disproportionate to its size. She hefted it in her hands and felt a chill over her whole body.

L’silda was at Tevos’s side, “Find something?”

Aria shielded the box as best she could with her body, “Is there an escape pod nearby?”

L’silda’s voice was hesitant. She looked around as if searching for something, “Y… yes. Right outside the door.”

Aria stood, holding the box against the back of one hip, “Put Lidanya in it. This box is going in, too. Then jettison it and blow it to hell with whatever type of canon you have on this boat.”

L’silda’s face hardened, “Just a minute, T’loak. I don’t take orders from you. I’m not going to just…”

Tevos stepped between them and the new captain’s eyes shifted to her, the hardness vanishing, “Then take your orders from me, Commander L’silda. Lidanya was indoctrinated. You and your entire crew are at risk. Open the pod. Now.”

It wasn’t quite that simple, of course. A trio of soldiers were sent to retrieve the captain’s body from cold storage. It took them some time to return with the body bag, and Aria insisted on checking to make sure it really was her before letting them secure the bag in the pod. It was a small pod, meant to carry only one or two rather than the standard half dozen in the crew areas. After they had been sent back to their duties, Aria opened the crate only wide enough to see that the glowing cube which had been a part of Sovereign was inside. The voices grew louder the moment the latches were opened. When she saw the carved box, Aria slammed it shut again and tossed it in with the corpse, slamming the hatch shut and bolting it.

Lidanya called a few brief commands to the bridge and the three asari moved off to a small window in the wall nearby. A minute later there was a hollow bang as the pod was jettisoned. The vibration of the glass turned it opaque for a split second. It didn’t take long for the pod to come into view through the small window. When it had travelled far enough from the ship, L’silda called another command to the bridge, and a flash of light tracked the pod before colliding with it. The two objects met and destroyed each other, exploding in a flash of bright light.

Aria let the blind spot the explosion had formed fade from her vision before turning to L’silda with a smirk and saying, “Now, about those calls…”

 

*****  

 

Lidanya had, in fact, taken them to the Silean Nebula. She had no doubt assumed that the secret colony would be there, and Aria was pleased at the assumption. It was, of course, completely wrong, and the colony was safe and secure again. Both Aria and Tevos had attempted several calls to different individuals on the Citadel, but all communication on the station was dark. The thought of the Cerberus coup attempt was foremost in both of their minds, but they knew of only one enemy who had the resources to mount an offensive against the Citadel now. When their feverish attempts to establish communications failed, Tevos ordered the ship to increase speed. They had been travelling back at a normal pace before, but now they tore through space with a vengeance.

After their failures, Aria had made several calls to Omega. The fleet was being mustered and would set off immediately for the Citadel. With any luck, they could at least assist in an evacuation. Admiral Hackett had contacted the station, asking for the merc bands be sent to Earth. It appeared that the war was coming to an end, whatever that end may be. While Aria was talking to several dozen people at once on her station, Tevos had curled up in her chair and fallen fast asleep.

 

 

******

 

Councilor Tevos awoke to the smell of leather and a musky, earthy scent that stirred her blood. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw that she was curled up in the navigator’s chair, Aria’s white leather jacket spread over her torso. She breathed deeply of the scent again, surprised at how warm and comforting she found it. Her whole body was more relaxed than she had been in so long, she felt weak with relief.

The privacy that Aria had requested was given in the form of access to the secondary bridge. The room had been part of the upgrades the ship received during the repairs after the Battle of the Citadel. A backup navigation and communications bridge that could take control of the ship in the event of catastrophic damage to the main bridge. Considering the size of the vessel, the precaution seemed appropriate. When not in use, it served as an area where the Council could communicate securely with the outside world while they travelled. In fact, the private quarters reserved for the four councilors were connected to this area via dedicated corridors.

Aria sat in the captain’s chair next to Tevos. She was staring out of the vast window, lost in thought. The councilor watched her face. Studied the lines of the delicate markings on her temple. She wondered which act of selfless and silent bravery had earned that particular mark. It must have been quite the story. The pattern looped and swirled, and Tevos breathed deep of the scent of this woman while she traced the lines with her eyes. The line connected to the brow lines which were so much like human eyebrows. Her eyes traced along the brow line and, upon reaching the end, saw the sparkling blue eyes watching her.

Without a word, Tevos stood from the chair. The white leather jacket slipped from her shoulder and fell back into the seat she had vacated. She reached out and took Aria’s hand. The purple skinned asari stood and allowed the councilor to lead her. Tevos’s steps took her to the door marked for the asari councilor. She walked with a firm stride down the hall, Aria a step or two behind, their linked fingers keeping their movements in sync. Tevos touched the pressure pad on the door and it slid open. When they entered, it slid shut with a whisper.

Tevos walked to the foot of the large bed and stopped, pulling Aria to stand in front of her. Aria stood silently as Tevos reached out with soft fingers to the latches on her leather vest. She did not move as the last of the clasps parted and the vest fell away, exposing her naked chest. Tevos stared for a moment before reaching for the clasp of her belt. After freeing it, she knelt and unbuckled Aria’s boots. She stood once Aria had kicked them off, and she slid the tight leather pants over Aria’s hips and then thighs. They fell to the floor and Aria stepped out of them, now completely naked.

Without a word, Tevos turned her back to Aria, who reached for the zipper of the skin tight dress just below the councilor’s neck folds. She swallowed hard as she slid the zipper down Tevos’s back. Aria had dreamt for decades of the sight of this blue skin displayed before. Each centimeter that was revealed made her heart thud in her ears. The zipper stopped just above the swell of her hips, and Aria moved her hands to the loosened fabric at her shoulders. She placed her fingers beneath the fabric and felt goose bumps form on the skin there as she slid the dress down and off Tevos’s arms. The dress fell off of her torso, and Aria was treated to the sight of her naked back. Her breath hitched and her mouth watered. Her fingertips moved from Tevos’s arms back to her shoulders, and she leaned in to place a kiss at the junction of shoulder and neck.

The councilor tilted her head away, allowing Aria full access to her neck. She felt the lips contact with her skin and heat transferred from those lips to suffuse her body. She groaned as the heat settled in her core. She leaned her body back into Aria and felt erect nipples press into her back, just below her shoulder blades. Her mind flashed blank and she closed her eyes, allowing herself to be lost in the sensations. Aria kissed up her neck, her tongue flicking out to caress her jaw line. Her hands moved up the councilor’s sides to her stomach, then up further still to cradle the weight of her breasts in each hand. She ground her hips, which were still covered in the lose fabric of her dress, into Aria’s pelvis and heard a pleased grunt in response. Her hands moved behind her to settle on Aria’s hips, then slid further back to squeeze the firm mounds of her ass.

Aria’s body cried out in an agony of need. Her naked core spilling wet desire until her inner thighs were coated. Her hands kneaded greedily at Tevos’s breasts and her lips sucked at the tender areas of her neck. She was determined to experience every moment to its fullest, and so she continued to stroke and tease at Tevos’s breasts, swiping glancing blows off of her tight nipples until she felt her whole body screaming for more. With more speed than grace she moved her hands back to the dress now clinging to the seductively ample hips pressed against her. She slid the fabric another inch or so, and it lost its purchase on the councilor’s body. It fell to the ground, revealing a pair of simple, black panties.   They were a bikini cut and the strings rode high on Tevos’s hips.

Aria’s hands spread wide over the councilors exposed stomach. It was firm, but with a pleasant softness at the bottom where it bulged ever so slightly before disappearing into the underwear which formed the last barrier between them. Tevos threw her head back over Aria’s shoulder, kissing at her cheek and jaw, her hand moving up to bury itself in the folds at the base of Aria’s neck. She gripped with desperate fingers, wanting Aria to continue but hesitant to lose the last strings of her self-control. Aria was anything but hesitant, and her hand plunged under the flimsy fabric and dove into the wetness between Tevos’s legs. She gasped as fingers brushed lightly over her swollen clit, paying it scant attention before pushing through her dripping folds. Tevos rocked forward, trying to increase the pressure on her body, begging Aria to enter her and end her misery.

Aria yearned to press deeper. To sink herself into the wetness that had pooled there just for her. She delayed, however, determined to make their love making last. She dipped one finger inside of her lover and gently swirled, stretching her without actually entering. The teasing made Tevos’s knees go weak, and Aria held her with a supporting arm around her waist. The fingers on her ass gripped harder, and Aria pressed her own pelvis forward trying to relieve some of the growing need there.

“Aria…”

It was a whisper. A plea. An embodiment of need that made Aria’s mind ache to press forward and envelop the other. She felt her own knees shake with desire and removed her hand, repositioning it on the blue hip. Tevos whimpered at the loss of stimulation and spun in Aria’s arms, pressing their breasts and lips together with a ferocity that surprised and thrilled Aria. Tevos broke the kiss and stared into those blue eyes. Her own were half black from desire to meld, and she backed away, laying down on the bed and using her positioning to invite Aria to join her.

Aria stood in her nakedness, the proof of her desire glinting in the low light of the room. The surveyed the body displayed before her reverently. It squirmed under the inspection, and she moved forward. She lowered herself gently on top of Tevos and felt warm arms wrap around her neck. She dropped her lips into place and their tongues met again in a glorious dance. She felt that she could spend another century kissing Tevos and never grow tired of the feel of that mouth on hers. Their bodies, however, begged for more.

Aria pulled back from the kiss and looked into Tevos’s eyes, suddenly unsure. This was not a feeling she often experienced, especially in the bedroom. She felt that she should explain before continuing, and it was not without a considerable blow her to her ego that she said, “I… it’s been a… long time since I…”

Shock showed in Tevos’s face, but it was quickly replaced with understanding. She wanted to say more. Something about how her bravado was not misplaced. It had just been a slow half century or so. Maybe something romantic about the reason- namely Tevos herself- that she had not invited anyone into her bed in so long. The excuses all felt tenuous at the moment, but Tevos stilled her fears by placing a finger on her lips and smiling. She replaced the finger with her lips and guided Aria’s hand back down her stomach to where she wanted to be touched. Needed to be touched.

Instead of complying with the implicit request, Aria kissed down her jaw to her neck. Small sounds of approval urged her lower, and she kissed down her collarbone. She licked and tasted the salt of Tevos’s sweat on her tongue. She kissed up the swell of one breast until she found a nipple in her mouth. She flicked her tongue over the taut bud and the response was incredible. A groan and a full body shiver along with a firm hand on her crest. She paid lavish attention to one nipple and then the other until she felt the slightest tickle at the edge of her consciousness. She continued her journey down, kissing and licking and nibbling until she came to the hem of Tevos’s underwear. She could smell the asari’s arousal and the scent was intoxicating.

She picked the fabric off of her lover’s body with her teeth and gripped tight as she continued moving her face down. The motion dragged the underwear down with her and she heard Tevos gasp at the animalistic display. The move was certainly alluring, but she knew it would end in embarrassment if she tried to actually remove the underwear with her teeth. Those things looked hot in vids, but they didn’t really work in real life. So she looped a finger into the hip strings on each side and pulled them off seductively. Kneeling between the thighs of her now completely naked partner, Aria flashed a toothy grin before lowering her face between Tevos’s legs.

She made a point of breathing heavily on the dripping wet sex before flicking her tongue out to tease the folds. A whimper turned to a moan when she pressed the flat of her tongue against Tevos’s swollen clit. Even without a rhythm, the pressure was exquisite. Then Aria began to swirl in tight circles around her and Tevos’s mind emptied. She let herself become lost in Aria’s ministrations. It took her a little while to find the rhythm that had the councilor bucking and groaning, but, once she found it, she was ruthless in her application. After only a moment more the pressure to allow access to her mind was more insistent, and the strained breathing from above her proved that Tevos was hovering on the edge of ecstasy.

Aria slipped two fingers inside her dripping folds and opened her mind simultaneously. The feeling of being engulfed mentally was overwhelming, and it took everything she had to maintain the rhythm she had started. She pumped her fingers in and out and flicked her tongue as she tried to sort through the flurry of emotions that were filling her from the foreign mind. Apart from earthshattering desire and need, there was an all-encompassing sense of awe. Her confusion must have shown through the meld because Tevos showed her all that she had seen and felt when she saw Aria over the past several decades. The conflicted lust and reverie at the adoration of a criminal. The relief tinged with shame when she discovered the truth. She had been thrilled more at the thought that she had been so strongly attracted to a hero than the fact of Aria’s heroism in the first place.

The knowledge that she had been desired in equal measure by the object of her affections was so powerful, she could not help but share it. She showed too the depth of her feeling, worried that the story of her falling in love at first sight had not quite been expressed fully. She was used to more shallow mating melds. Ones that involved more immediate lust than true emotion, so she held herself back from letting Tevos fully inside her. The hesitance was met with acceptance, and she was relieved to not be forced into more of a declaration than her mind already allowed.

To block the confusion and the newness of such a deep meld, Aria stepped up her attentions to Tevos’s throbbing sex. She was so close to release that it took very little. Soon there was a shouting and a torrent of release through the meld. Outwardly, Tevos orgasmed with sensuous silence. Inwardly she was a tempest. Her mind was an explosion of colors and sounds that were in no way connected. Coherent thought ceased as sensation took over. Despite having experience in mating with so many people of so many races, Aria was made speechless by this reaction. She had never experienced a meld so overwhelmed with pleasure. It took everything that she had to maintain her own equilibrium in such a powerful rush. The ache between her legs increased a thousand times over after sharing Tevos’s pleasure. Her mind screamed to be touched before she could stop it.

Tevos had barely recovered from her release when the full intensity of Aria’s need hit her. Because their minds were connected and mixed, the desire initially confused her. She realized after a moment that it was not coming from her, but from Aria. The desperation was radiating off of her in waves even though Tevos could feel her attempts to control herself. A smile spread across her face and she pulled lightly at the purple face still hovering above her core. Aria wasted no time in joining her, laying the length of her body on top of Tevos. They kissed with a passionate made more intimate with their minds still connected.

Tevos gently pressed on Aria’s shoulder, encouraging her to roll back onto the bed. She wasted no time in complying, her body now throbbing painfully. Tevos slithered on top of her, sliding their sweat slicked bodies against each other and settling herself onto Aria’s muscular form. She slid her leg between Aria’s and felt the positive flood of wetness there. She grinned into their kissing and teased lightly through their mental connection. Aria nipped at her bottom lip, earning a gasp and a flash of renewed desire from above her. She moved her hands up to grip the blue breasts dangling above her.

_Stop that. I can’t focus on you when you… ooh… when you…_

_Hmm… you are insatiable. I have an idea._

Aria projected an image through the meld of Tevos on top of her, Aria’s fingers buried deep inside her. As the councilor rode her hand, she pressed it down onto Aria’s clit, causing delicious stimulation for both of them simultaneously. Tevos groaned, gripping her fingers into Aria’s well shaped arms as she latched onto the picture and watched, enraptured.

_I had intended for us to actually do that, not just watch._

_Oh! Sorry! I…_

Instead of explaining herself, Tevos covered her embarrassment by scrambling into position. Aria grinned toothily at her as she moved to straddle the purple hips. She blushed a shade of lilac that made Aria dizzy with giddiness. Sensing it through the meld only made Tevos blush more. Then she was atop the other woman, looking down at her body. Years of training and fighting had left Aria with lean, toned muscles. Her shoulders were particularly distracting to the councilor, powerful but not obscenely muscled. She followed lines of definition in biceps and forearms, ending in powerful hands. The beauty of the musculature was marred somewhat by blackish bruising that was starting to form, but Tevos admired every inch nonetheless. Her eyes moved to perfectly formed breasts, perky and slightly smaller than her own. Then down to an abdomen with shallow lines defining each firm but not rock hard muscle. Tevos allowed herself the pleasure of tracing central line with her finger and was gratified to see a ripple following her touch. Her eyes travelled down to where their bodies met, and her eyes clouded over black again.

Aria saw the darkness teasing the edges of those green eyes and slid her hand between their bodies. Tevos lifted up slightly, taking the pressure off of where Aria wanted it most. The loss was torturous, but she did not, could not rush this. She had waited so long, she wanted to enjoy every sight and sound and feeling to its fullest. Tevos canted her hips forward slightly and leaned back. She braced her hands on Aria’s thighs behind her, which pushed her breasts forward in so seductive a way that Aria knew she couldn’t hold back any more. She slowly pressed two fingers inside the hot, wet folds.

_Aria… please… more…_

Aria eased a third finger inside and her jaw dropped as Tevos threw her head back and moaned at the stretch inside her. She began a slow rhythm against Aria’s hand, rocking her hips back forward, forcing Aria’s fingers deep inside of her and then out. Each time she thrust forward the back of Aria’s hand rubbed against her own clit with just the right force. Despite having cum once already, Aria could feel how close Tevos was again. Her breathing started to speed up along with the rhythm of her hips. Aria marveled in the sensation of the silky walls wrapped tight around her hand. Her own pleasure mounted and she knew they would both lose hold soon. When Tevos’s breathing began to hitch, Aria curled her fingers forward to rub against that one spot in the front. Almost the moment her fingertips found the spot, Tevos shrieked aloud and the walls around Aria’s fingers clenched and fluttered. They pulsed and Tevos’s hips bucked harder and harder.

Aria’s mind started to empty when suddenly Tevos had raised her body. Her core had already started to seize up in anticipation, and she shouted in agony through the meld. She registered a fierce cold on her fingers as Tevos withdrew them, laying her body down next to Aria.

_Oh no, this one is mine!_

The pain was swept away as fingers found her swollen, throbbing clit and began to circle it frantically. She used just the right amount of pressure to make up for what had been lost. As her body quickly built toward her release Aria had a moment of pure clarity. The universe went still and silent around her as she realized the fingers that were making her groan with pleasure were Tevos’s fingers. The breast pressed hard against her own, the taut nipple teasing by its mere presence, was Tevos’s breast. The lips on her neck were Tevos’s lips. Everything she had desired for almost a half century was caught up in this one amazing moment. The knowledge of it was what finally broke the flood gates of her ecstasy. Her release was so powerful it verged on painful, but Tevos’s mind and body were there to ease her through it. As her mind screamed, she felt herself being wrapped in a warm mental embrace. A humming or singing stroked the sharp edges of her feelings, soothing them.

As she rode the wave of release to its end and Tevos’s mind retracted from her, Aria realized that their bodies were just as firmly entangled as their minds had been. The councilor sighed and Aria wrapped a strong arm around her, pulling her as close as she could. Aria’s own body relaxed into the soft mattress, and she smiled as her eyes slowly shut.

 

******

 

_Aria sat on the large, cream colored couch of Sha’ira’s chambers. She was feeling contented today for no particular reason. Sha’ira had stepped away to take a call from one of her more pathetic clients, but the interruption had not caused the flare of annoyance Aria often felt. The light in the room had a quality too, that she couldn’t account for. The room smelled of some foreign flower. Even the line of discussion was not as fraught with tension as they could be. Just a simple request for supplies to be sent back to Thessia. The atmosphere was pleasant in an unexpected way. Aria almost didn’t feel like heading back to Omega._

_“Forgive me, Aria.” Sha’ira said as she settled herself back on the opposing couch._

_A very young asari maiden came in and placed a small mug of some hot beverage in front of each of them before leaving. Aria reached for hers and took a tentative sip. Whatever the concoction was, it was delicious. Bitterness and creaminess mixed perfectly._

_Sha’ira noticed her appreciation and put her own mug back on the table with a smile, “Do you like it? I have my first human client! A very sweet little man from a place called ‘Spain’ on Earth. He made me one of these on our last appointment and I was enraptured. It is called a ‘café cortado’. I thought you might appreciate it. He very graciously had a large shipment of coffee sent to me from his planet. Very kind.”_

_“I like it. Your clients do seem enamored of you.”_

_“Ah, but you know what that is like. There is not a soul on Omega who would not lay down his life for Aria T’loak.”_

_Aria shrugged and put her empty mug back on the table, “That’s more fear than affection. Maybe a little respect.”_

_“Nonsense, Aria. They love you for their freedom. My gift of words is nothing compared to that.”_

_“Hmm… I wouldn’t know. You’ve never given me a gift of words.”_

_“Oh, but I have. I may not have made a production of it like I do with some of my more… dramatic clients, but I gave it to you the day we met.”_

_Aria furrowed her brow, trying to remember everything that was said that day. She remembered suddenly, “You said I have a fire in me. It could either be destructive or a light in the darkness. Hmm. I thought you were just being poetic.”_

_“I was! Poetry is powerful because it lends beauty to truth, Aria. Moreover, you have proven me right. You are a light in the darkness, Aria T’loak. You are a beacon for good that many see and few recognize for its true nature. You shape those around you to be better and they are none the wiser. You have true power and you do not abuse it… often.” She smiled and sat back._

_Aria thought about those words and the ones she had heard so long ago during that first meeting with Sha’ira. She tried to determine if she had shaped them or they had shaped her. She decided she may never know. Perhaps that was the real gift._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for Aria and Tevos this round. I had thought to let this stand on its own, but I had too much fun writing it. So there will be more installments from this world coming soon. Hope you liked it, because I had a blast writing it!


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